


Good Intentions

by mdelpin



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Betrayal, Developing Relationship, FTLGBTales, Friendship, M/M, Potions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-23
Updated: 2017-09-04
Packaged: 2019-01-18 15:48:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 43,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12391242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mdelpin/pseuds/mdelpin
Summary: Natsu and Gray's constant fighting causes them to mess up a job. Erza is fed up and purchases a potion to make them get along temporarily in the hopes that it will strengthen their friendship. The potion works a little too well with life changing consequences for the two unsuspecting mages.





	1. The Plan

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Español available: [Las Buenas Intenciones](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14873273) by [mdelpin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mdelpin/pseuds/mdelpin)



Disclaimer: All Fairy Tail characters belong to Hiro Mashima, excepting Fuyu.

Chapter 1 : The Plan

"I can't believe that you started a brawl in the middle of our mission. Not to mention the destruction that you caused the town caused us to once again lose our reward and will give Fairy Tail a bad name. I'd try to knock some sense into you but that never works for very long." an angry Erza screamed at the two male mages that were part of her team.

The fire mage, Natsu Dragneel, tried to reason with his enraged team mate " The Ice Princess started it. Everything would have been fine if -".

"Oh sure blame it on me, if you weren't so clumsy and stupid the City Hall would still be in one piece and -", interrupted the team's ice mage, Gray Fullbuster.

Natsu sputters , "Oh you want a piece of me, bring it Ice Block!"

Erza looked at both of them open mouthed seeing as the two idiot rivals were getting ready to engage in yet another pointless brawl. "ENOUGH! I can't stand to look at either one of you right now, get out of my sight!" she screeched at the top of her lungs. She stormed off in the direction of their inn.

Natsu and Gray stopped their bickering and looked at each other worriedly. Erza did not normally respond to their bickering this way. Truth be told they counted on her to stop them before things got out of control. A good knock on the head usually let them know that they had gone too far and they were more than happy to back off and do their best friend routine which made them sound a bit like Natsu's blue Exceed, Happy.

They looked around them and shuddered at the mess that they had made of the city. Fires were running rampant everywhere , other parts were flooded due to Gray's ice melting from the heat of Natsu's fires. The explosions from their attacks had destroyed multiple buildings and they could not honestly pinpoint how much of the damage was caused by their mission and how much was caused by their fight. They knew they were going to get an earful once this got back to their Guild Master Makarov. There was probably a punishment game in their future as well. Their master was notorious for them. Despite the upcoming consequences they truly did feel bad about making their oldest friend that angry with them so they started to do the only thing they could at the moment and began to slowly deal with the destruction they had caused.

Erza walked to the inn where her team was staying. Her other teammate Lucy, a celestial mage, had not taken an active part in the battle since she had been injured earlier doing reconnaisance for the mission. Happy, Natsu's Exceed offered to stay with her so that Lucy would not be lonely. Erza had promised to come back after the battle was done to tell them how it had gone but she was still too upset to be good company.

'For Mavis' sake, why can't those two just get along? After everything we have all been through together you would think that they could just be friends or at least tolerant of each other.' Erza thought to herself. ' Regardless, I am done being their babysitter if they can't figure out a way to work together then I will have to seriously consider leaving the team.'

With that sobering thought she reached the inn and went inside to find the celestial mage. She threw an angry glance at the boys room and entered the room she shared with Lucy.

Lucy turned to the door as she heard it open. She was happy to see Erza enter the room, Happy had fallen asleep an hour earlier and she was bored. Sensing the anger seething out of Erza she was afraid to ask how the battle had gone but she figured the requip mage might feel better if she talked about it.

"So, I take it things did not go well?" Lucy asked her friend.

Erza looked at her restlessly and sighed. "I honestly don't want to talk or think about it right now."

"Ok, I am feeling a bit better now. Would you like to walk around a bit? I saw a bakery that sells strawberry cake while I was doing recon and I am tired of being cooped up." Lucy cajoled. She knew of her friend's weakness for the sugary treat and hoped that a distraction might calm her down from whatever had her so on edge.

"Strawberry cake does sound nice but I am not sure if I could enjoy it at the moment." replied Erza.

"Wow, now there's something I thought I would never hear." joked Lucy

Happy woke up to the girls conversation. "Erza, you're back? Is Natsu with you?" Happy asked sleepily.

Lucy noticed Erza tense up further at the mention of the fire mage and immediately realized that whatever was wrong involved their teammates.

"No, Happy he is most decidedly not. I asked both him and Gray to stay away from me for awhile. You are, however, welcome to go look for him. Just follow the path of destruction and I am sure you will find him easily." Erza told the Exceed in the most civil tone she could muster at the moment. Happy decided not to pry and left in search of his father figure and friend.

"So should I assume that yet again we are left without reward money?" asked Lucy.

"That is correct, if you are feeling better let's go ahead and go get that cake. Sitting here is not making me feel any better. I need to move." Lucy followed Erza out of the room. She wanted to ask what had happened but decided to give Erza a little more time to cool off before she pressed her for more information.

The part of the city they were in was far enough from the battle that no damage was evident and Erza found herself calming down as she allowed herself to be distracted by the colors and sounds that surrounded her. She looked into store windows with interest as she followed Lucy to the bakery that she had mentioned. They finally arrived at their destination and sat down to a relaxing snack, Erza looked at her beloved strawberry cake with a smile and as she devoured her favorite treat calmed down enough to tell Lucy about what had happened.

"We arrived at the spot where we were going to confront the mages from the dark guild.", Erza began, "Everything was going well, then the master tried to escape so of course I went after him and left Natsu and Gray to take care of the remaining mages. None of them were particularly tough. Apparently Gray noticed one of them trying to sneak up on Natsu and cast and Ice Make Floor to help. Natsu slipped and fell instead and one of the dark mages started laughing at him. Next thing you know Natsu and Gray were going at each other and destroyed that entire area with their magic attacks."

"Well at least it sounds like they took out the mages, right?" asked Lucy.

"No.", Erza seethed, "Apparently they all ran away in fear of being taken out by the two idiots' attacks. The only reason I know what happened is that I stopped one on my way back. I have never been so embarassed. "

"You are joking right?", Lucy said, "I know they are bad but they would never jeapardize a mission or purposefully make Fairy Tail look bad . At least they never have before. Something else must have been going on with them."

Finished with their snack they continued to walk around the city and happened upon a rather large magic shop. Both Lucy and Erza went inside. It was not often that they had the opportunity to explore such a large shop. Lucy looked at their supply of magic keys to see if any interested her enough to make a purchase. Erza went to explore their selection of powerful armors and weapons always eager to add to her collection. They met in the middle of the store and continued looking around.

"Did you see anything you wanted?", Lucy asked Erza.

"Not really, I wish there was something here to help us with Natsu and Gray.", said Erza.

They continued walking around the store as they talked making their way into an area that offered all sorts of potions for sale.

"I don't really think that this is the type of situation that magic would help, Erza. They need to figure their weird friendship out by themselves.", Lucy pointed out, "Although it would be funny to play a prank on them in retaliation. Maybe we can turn them into something for a day. How about an animal? Or maybe we could turn them both into girls? I bet you that they have stuff like that here."

Lucy was smiling to herself thinking about some of the funnier possibilities.

"I know, you're right Lucy", replied Erza. "I just wish there was something we could do that would make them like each other long enough to be able to resolve all of their issues with each other."

A strange voice intruded and said "I couldn't help but overhear your conversation. I have something that can help you with your problem."

Lucy turned to look at the owner of the voice. He was dressed in a dark colored cloak. He looked to be a bit older than them but his expression looked kind. She asked the man, " Do you work here?".

"I do not, I am just a patron same as you. ", replied the man. " I happen to have a potion that if administered properly will certainly make your friends like each other especially if they have a prior relationship. Normally this type of magic is frowned upon by the Council since it can tamper with people's emotions. It cannot be purchased in stores so it is considered rare. Normally, I would not part with it lightly. However I am in need of money right now and I recognize you to be Titania of the Fairy Tail Guild. Your reputation precedes you and I feel comfortable that you will not use it for ill."

"You know something about me but I know nothing about you.", Erza stated flatly. "How do I know that this potion will do what you say? How do I know it won't just hurt my friends? Why should I trust you?"

The man looked at her plainly and said, "I realize that you have no reason to trust me and I honestly have no reason to tell you anything about myself. This is strictly a business transaction. I need the jewel and you want the effects of my potion. I can tell you that my name is Fuyu. I am a mage, although I do not belong to a guild, I live in this city and I purchase most of my supplies here. I came about the potion honestly but I have no need of it. It was a reward for a quest. The price for the potion is 50,000 jewel, take it or leave it."

"Alright, let's say that I was to buy your potion, how would I give it to them, what are its effects?", asked Erza. Her curiosity and frustration at their behavior were getting the better of her.

Lucy gasped out, "Erza, you can't seriously be considering this!"

Fuyu answered ,"It is very simple you would have to place one drop into each of their full drinks, at least eight ounces but more is ok. Once they ingest it the potion will respond to the potion in the other causing their aggression to level out."

Erza asked some more questions and considered for a few minutes. A terrifying smile began to creep over her face as she thought about how peaceful it would be without those two fighting constantly, and Lucy knew she had made up her mind. Erza handed over the money to Fuyu and received a small vial in return. Fuyu wished them luck and left the store.

"Come on Lucy let's go find those idiots. We're going to all go out for a team dinner!", Erza said happily easily getting carried away as she always does.

Lucy said hesitantly, "I don't know about this..."

"It will be great! We are going to have the best time tonight.", Erza said evilly practically bursting with excitement.


	2. The Dinner

Disclaimer: All Fairy Tail Characters belong to Hiro Mashima

Chapter 2: The Dinner

Erza practically dragged Lucy through the streets of the city in her eagerness to return to the inn. They finally reached their destination and Erza busied herself with the inn's concierge. She wanted to get a reservation for her team for dinner for that evening. Lucy made her way back to their room.

As she was about to enter her room she thought she heard some noise coming from the boys' room and decided to knock on their door. A tired looking Gray opened the door wearing only his underwear. It had gotten to the point where she did not even notice this behavior from him anymore. She was usually more concerned when he was fully dressed.

"Oh hi Lucy. How are you feeling?", Gray asked as he let the celestial mage into their room.

"Hey Lucy!" an also tired Natsu made an effort to greet her from his bed.

"I'm feeling better, thanks! I heard the job didn't go so well.", Lucy said carefully.

"Yeah, we screwed up. Erza was really mad at us. She told us to get out of her sight. She's never done that before.", Natsu informed her.

"I much rather prefer it when she whacks us on the head. We feel pretty bad about what happened. It was really stupid. I'm sure we are going to hear it from Gramps when we get back as well.", Gray said sadly, scratching the back of his head nervously.

"Why do you both look so tired?" she asked her two friends.

"We felt really bad about what we did so we spent the last few hours putting out fires and trying to fix as much as we could of the mess that we made. We figured it was the least we could do after all the chaos we created.", Natsu told the celestial mage.

"We also managed to find some of the members of the dark guild that got away and turned them in to the Rune Knights. Still no reward though and we never ate lunch.", Gray continued, "Has she calmed down at all yet?".

"Well then, you will be happy to know that Erza is getting a reservation for all of us for dinner tonight.", Lucy told the hungry boys. "I am glad that you did all those things as I am sure that it will help make her feel better about this whole mess. Well, I am going to go get some rest before dinner. You should do the same. We will come get you when we are ready to go."

After checking on them Lucy went back to the room she shared with Erza. She had thought about warning Natsu and Gray about Erza's plan but decided not to at the last minute. They looked like they had learned their lesson and she thought that when Erza saw that she would change her mind.

Natsu and Gray were both trying to get some rest before what they were sure would be a stressful dinner with Erza. They agreed to try to be on their best behavior for the entire evening and they both dozed off in their respective beds.

They woke up feeling slightly refreshed, although starving, and they started to get ready for dinner. Happy had mentioned to them earlier that Erza had been so angry she had refused strawberry cake, which is unheard of, so they were determined to do their best. In their bid to get back in Erza's good graces they both made sure to take showers as well as dress the best they could. Natsu promised to use the best eating manners that he knew, which of course were still pretty terrible. Gray promised to keep his clothes on through the whole meal, which they both knew probably wouldn't happen. They sat around immersed in their own thoughts waiting for the girls to come get them.

Back in the girl's room Lucy and Erza were also getting ready for dinner. Lucy was telling Erza about her earlier conversation with the boys in the hopes of talking her out of her plans. She couldn't explain why but she had a really bad feeling about that potion. However, the more Lucy tried to talk her out of using the potion on Natsu and Gray the more determined Erza was that it was a great idea. She only hoped Erza was right.

"Are you ready to go Lucy?", asked Erza. At Lucy's nod Erza requipped into her outfit for the evening and they headed next door to go get Natsu and Gray. Erza had managed to get a reservation at a popular restaurant near the inn named Cher Amis. It offered private booths, lots of food variety and was loud enough to not make the boys nervous about their manners. As they made their way to their reserved booth the mood was a bit tense as Natsu and Gray were not sure what was going on with Erza. She was being way too cheerful about the whole episode from that morning which, considering how angry she had been earlier was not a good sign.

Their waitress, who introduced herself as Monica, approached their table to get their drink orders and tell them about the evening's specials. Lucy and Erza decided to try some fruity drink that was the restaurant's specialty , Gray ordered a cold beer and Natsu tried something called a Hot Toddy because it had the word hot in the name and he didn't want to ask questions. While they waited for their drink orders the two boys decided to apologize for their earlier behavior. They had agreed that Gray would start as he could be relied on to be the calmest of the two and Natsu nudged him under the table.

"So Erza,", Gray chuckled nervously, "Flame brain, I mean Natsu, and I wanted to apologize for this morning. We were totally out of line and we know that and it won't happen again."

"To tell the truth this is the first time in all these years that we have fought with each other during a job, it was pretty unprofessional. You know that we would never purposefully embarass Fairy Tail like that", Natsu continued.

"And we hope that you can forgive us and that we are all ok now.", they both concluded together both relieved to get their prepared speech out without any incident.

Erza for her part was very impressed that they had obviously worked together on their prepared apology. Not only that but she took notice of their cleanliness and appearance. She began to think that Lucy was right but she decided to push a little to see how long they could keep their act up.

"Well I have to say that I am happy to hear that from you. I had begun to think that if you guys could not work together we would have to break up the team but I like everything I am hearing right now.", Erza positively purred at them.

"Now can you tell me what started the argument in the first place?', she asked them innocently.

Lucy looked at Erza, she couldn't be sure but she thought that her friend was trying to set a trap for Natsu and Gray. She wondered if this was wise.

The boys were looking at each other willing themselves to get through the explanation without an altercation. Once again Gray took the lead.

"Um well you see when you left we were fighting the remaining mages. We were doing pretty well when I noticed this one mage sneaking up on fla- uhm Natsu while he was in the middle of one of his attacks.", Gray explained, " I decided to cast an Ice Make Floor to help him since it was quick and I could move on to my own attacks easily but I didn't get a chance to warn him. When he landed from his attack he slipped and fell on his ass."

At the mere mention of Natsu falling so clumsily Happy started laughing hysterically. "Ha ha ha ha he fell... oh what I would have paid to see that. I bet that the other mages must have laughed. Ha ha ha. That's hilarious". Happy started wiping tears out of his eyes.

Natsu to his credit, tried to take the joke well. "Yeah, heh it wasn't that funny. It hurt!"

Happy continued his mirthful laughter which was beginning to get on Natsu's nerves.

"Oh, I don't know Natsu. The mage that told me about it thought it was pretty funny! What did you think Gray?", Erza grinned at him.

At this point Monica came back with their drink orders and asked for their food orders. Lucy and Erza both ordered the special while Natsu and Gray ordered enough food between them to feed a normal family for several days. Happy of course ordered fish.

Erza waited patiently for Gray's answer as she felt the next few minutes would determine whether she would continue her plan.

"Well, it was kind of amusing I guess", Gray tried to answer in a way that would not anger Natsu. He was pretty sure Erza was up to something but he wasn't sure what. Unfortunately, his nerves, Happy's laughter and a memory of Natsu's clumsy fall all worked together against him and before he knew it he started snickering.

"The hell you laughing about, this whole thing was your fault!", Natsu ,whose pride could not stand ridicule, snapped at Gray.

"I was trying to help you, you dimwit, it's not my fault that you lost your balance", Gray replied hotly.

"Well, I didn't need your help. I was doing fine on my own.", Natsu retorted.

"Not from where I was standing , that guy would have had you if I hadn't done something.", Gray yelled.

"So now you're saying that I'm not capable of fighting without your help? I'm a dragon slayer Ice Pervert, I'm hardly defenseless.", Natsu yelled back.

Back and forth they continued their bickering. Erza was looking at them with a strange look on her face, almost predatory. "That's enough, both of you go outside and get some air. Don't come back until you have calmed down. I'm disappointed in you, you were doing so well. Happy go make sure they don't do something stupid." All three of them went outside, Natsu and Gray with scowls on their faces.

Erza took the vial from her pocket, she sniffed the contents to make sure that the smell would not give the potion away to the dragon slayer. As far as she could tell it seemed to have no smell, hopefully it would also have no taste. She put two drops in each of the boys drinks.

"Wait Erza, why did you do two drops? Fuyu said to do just one!", Lucy exclaimed worriedly.

"Are we sitting at the same table? Those two need extra help, they just can't get along. Not even when they are trying extra hard. You are still new to them Lucy. I have been dealing with the two of them for seven years.", Erza said calmly.

"I have a bad feeling about this, we can still get them new drinks.", Lucy said desperately.

"This is going to work, I know it is.", Erza said assuredly. She had the grace to feel a little guilty that she was sneaking a potion to her friends but she convinced herself that it was for their own good. If everything went as planned they would not need the potion ever again. She could confess to them later and take full responsibility for her actions. They would all have a great laugh about it someday. With her plan set in motion she chatted with a nervous Lucy as she waited for Natsu and Gray to return to the table.

Monica finally arrived with their meals and the boys returned to the table immediately after. They did not look happy but they were being civil which was more than Lucy expected. They ate in silence for a few minutes. Both boys downed their drinks and ordered another. Erza had been staring at them intently as they ate but seemed to lose interest after awhile.

Telling Lucy that she had been dealing with their antics for seven years made Erza feel nostalgic. She decided to start telling stories from those times so that Lucy would not feel left out of their childhood. That led to Natsu and Gray also telling some stories from that time. The rest of the dinner was spent in pleasant conversation and lots of laughter. Lucy was touched that they would share their memories with her as they were all normally very private. It was nice to think of them as kids instead of the overpowered mages they were now. They finished their meal , paid and walked back to the inn. No more fights were heard out of Natsu and Gray for the rest of the evening. Erza, convinced that her plan was working was in a great mood. They all started discussing their trip back to Magnolia in the morning and went to their rooms for the night.


	3. Home Again

Disclaimer: All Fairy Tail Characters belong to Hiro Mashima

Chapter 3: Home Again

The train ride home was uneventful. Natsu was passed out thanks to Erza's not so gentle cure for motion sickness while Happy napped peacefully next to him. Lucy seemed to be enjoying her book. Erza had a thoughtful look on her face as she stared at both Natsu and Gray. She had been doing that all morning, watching their every move, and it was starting to get on Gray's nerves.

"Will you quit staring already! If you have something to say just say it!", Gray snapped at Erza.

"I didn't realize I was. I suppose I'm trying to decide what to tell the Master about our mission.", Erza replied.

"Oh.", Gray swallowed nervously. He had been trying not to dwell too much on what was awaiting them when they got back to the guild. He was really hoping that the Master would not subject them to one of their punishment games but he knew it was a disctinct possibility.

Erza sighed, she knew that she had done something wrong last night. She knew that even though both Natsu and Gray feared her wrath they trusted her implicitly and it pained her to betray that trust. While she had acted flippantly with Lucy the previous night she wasn't fooling herself, she knew there would be deep consequences from her actions. She would have to work hard to earn back their trust and even then it might never be the same between them. All she could do was hope that it was worth it in the end. This led to her current quandary. After what she had done was it really fair of her to deliver them to the Master's wrath? She decided she would let the effect of the potion run its course.

"Look, I'm not comfortable withholding the truth from Master but I am willing to make you a deal. I am impressed that you both worked together to help repair the damage you inflicted and that you caught the mages that had escaped earlier. Even though you messed up you finished the job and upheld your pride as Fairy Tail wizards. If you promise me that you and Natsu will work on getting along better then I will not tell the Master the full details of what happened. If you go back to your usual routine, I will have no choice but to let him know. Talk to Natsu when we get back and let me know what you decide. Deal?", Erza told Gray as evenly as she could.

"I think I get where you're going with this but I think you are going to end up being disappointed.", Gray sighed. "Natsu and I just don't have the type of friendship that you want us to have and that's fine with me. If I want to hang out and have drinks I go to Cana or Loke. If I feel like talking about something that is bothering me I will probably go to you, or rather you will eventually force me to talk about it."

"I know that he and I fight a lot, but the rivalry that we have had for so many years is what forces me to be stronger and work harder because let's face it the bastard does not pull punches . He is the one that I go to when I am upset or just need to blow off some steam because I know that we can beat the crap out of each other and when all is said and done he won't ask any questions and we'll be fine .", Gray continued, " Sometimes that's all I really need."

"So, I'll talk to him about laying off some of the more pointless fighting , I'm sure he will agree but I really have no desire to change the nature of our friendship. You know it's funny, but we haven't really had the energy to bicker ever since dinner last night. I have to admit it's kind of peaceful". Gray grinned and with that he finished the conversation. He spent the rest of the ride in silence.

They arrived in Magnolia sometime after noon and made plans to meet in the guild in a few hours to report on their mission to Makarov. The girls went home to relax for a bit leaving Gray to talk to Natsu and Happy about Erza's proposal. Natsu and Happy immediately set off towards the forest.

Gray called out to Natsu, "Oi, Flame Brain hold up I need to talk to you."

Natsu continued walking but replied , "Ugh, I am tired of talking, all we have done is talk. It's not really our thing. I will see you at the guild later."

Gray prodded, "But we need to talk before we go to the guild, Erza said..."

"Fine, but if you want to talk to me, Ice Pervert, you're going to have to catch me first!" , Natsu grinned at Gray, "Last one to the river has to do whatever the winner says." and with that the dragon slayer took off as fast as his legs could go knowing full well that Gray could never resist a challenge. He took a quick look behind him and was pleased to see Gray racing him to the river. That was one thing he liked about the ice mage, he never backed down.

He already had a pretty good idea of what he would ask to do if he won. After having to do all the cleanup work, being on his best behavior and suffering through yet another train ride he was full of energy and itching for a fight. The no holds barred kind and Gray was just the one to give it to him! He couldn't wait.

They were neck to neck most of the way, neither one gaining any clear advantage over the other. Happy cheered them on the whole way there but to Natsu's dismay called the race as a tie.

"Happy, are you blind? I clearly won!", Natsu panted his words out.

"No you didn't, Squinty Eyes, I think you are the one who needs their eyes checked. I was the clear winner", Gray declared. He was also a bit winded from their race.

"You can't just declare yourself the winner!", Natsu sputtered.

"Why not, isn't that what you were trying to do Dragon Boy?", Gray pointed out. Gray waited for the inevitable over the top reaction to his name calling. After all, Erza was not here at the moment and he was in the mood for a fight.

Natsu gave Gray an angry glare and sat down to catch his breath. Gray looked at him surprisedly but sat down as well.

'What the hell? Normally, he would have tried to punch me by now', Gray thought to himself.

"So what did you want to talk to me about?", Natsu asked Gray calmly.

Gray looked at his friend in disbelief. "Oh yeah, while we were on the train Erza offered us a deal. She said that if we worked on getting along better with each other she would not tell Makarov about what we did during the mission. I guess she wants us to be better friends or something. We both have to agree or the deal's off and then she will tell Makarov everything", Gray rolled his eyes at the dragon slayer.

"Is she serious? We get along fine. What does that even mean?", asked Natsu.

"I don't know, she didn't really go into specifics. I suppose she just doesn't want us to fight so much.", Gray guessed.

"But we enjoy fighting with each other, it's kind of our thing.", Natsu noted.

"I know, maybe just not in the guild, or during a mission?", puzzled Gray.

"Fine, I will try not to fight with you in the guild so much or on missions if you fight with me now.", Natsu tried to get his original plan back on track.

"Isn't that kind of missing the point? Besides, I don't really feel like fighting right now.", and Gray was surprised to realize that it was true. He really did not feel like fighting his rival at the moment. He had been thinking excitedly about doing just that while they had been running but now the urge was felt really strange.

"Come on, Ice Prick, fight me. I'll even let you throw the first punch.", Natsu offered. The more he thought about it though, the more he realized he was just going through the motions. He had lost the desire to fight sometime after arriving at the river but he figured if he could get Gray to hit him then that would get him all fired up and they could go from there.

'Since when do I need a reason to punch the ice bastard?', the fire mage thought to himself. He felt a bit uneasy but did not know why. Happy chose that moment to accuse them of being no fun and flew off to find Carla.

So instead of the fight they had both been eagerly anticipating they sat in companionable but somewhat confused silence. Their whole interaction felt off but neither one could figure out what had happened to change their mood. After a few minutes of this they agreed to take Erza's deal and went their separate ways, each engrossed in their own thoughts. They would meet up again at the guild later.


	4. At The Guild

Disclaimer: All Fairy Tail Characters belong to Hiro Mashima

Chapter 4: At The Guild

When Natsu entered the Fairy Tail guild hall he was already feeling better about his non fight with Gray. Obviously, they had still been tired from all the work they did during their mission and he knew they had both went all out when they raced. It was their nature, neither one of them liked to lose to the other after all. He had gone home, taken a nap, eaten some food and was feeling more like his normal self. He was sure he could goad the ice mage into a fight quickly. The fact that he had recently agreed to not fight the ice mage in the guild hall slipping his mind for the moment, he looked around and spied members of his team already sitting at their table. He stopped to get a drink from Mira and happily went to join them.

"Finally decided to join us, eh Natsu?", Erza greeted him warmly. Gray, who had arrived earlier, had already informed her that they had agreed to her deal. "I look forward to the peace and quiet I expect in the coming days. I am happy that you are willing to give this a try and I will be keeping an eye on your progress. I will now go upstairs to report to the Master." She rose from her seat and headed upstairs to the Master's office, leaving the boys alone at the table with their beverages.

Lucy finished catching up with Levy and sat down at her team's table a mischievous look on her face.

"Oh, hi Lucy! ", both boys greeted their teammate warmly.

"So I heard that you guys agreed to work on your " , at this Lucy put her fingers up in air quotes as she said the next word, "relationship!". She grinned at them cheekily as Gray's drink came sputtering out of his mouth in red faced indignation.

"WHAT? That's not funny, Lucy.", Gray growled at her.

Natsu didn't quite get what she was implying so he just ignored her, still trying to figure out the best way to draw Gray out into a brawl. However, he was quickly noticing that now that he was near his friend he had lost all interest in fighting him. Again. 'What in the holy hell is going on?', he thought to himself. He did not like this at all. He wanted a fight and if he couldn't fight his best friend he would move down the list to his second rival. He got up from the table without saying a word to his friends and headed towards a certain spiky haired, iron eating dragon slayer.

"I thought it was!", Lucy giggled at Gray's quick anger. It was amusing to be able to get such a quick rise out of him. "Relax, I was just teasing you. I know that's not true. I don't think I have ever seen either of you showing interest in anyone, let alone each other."

"I think things will be a lot more fun from now on if you two aren't at each other's throats every waking second.", Lucy said happily, ideas of things they could now do without the ever present fear of the boys' fights destroying everything around them flitting through her head. She also couldn't help but wonder if this would somehow translate into more reward money. Erza was right, this might work out after all.

"I suppose, but to me it seems like they will be less fun.", the ice mage replied a bit gloomily thinking about how things had turned out at the river earlier. He had meant it when he had told Erza that he did not want the nature of his friendship with Natsu to change and he was starting to get a bad feeling that this agreement they had made might do just that. He looked up to look at Natsu and suddenly noticed that the fire mage was no longer there. He looked around the room trying to spy a glimpse of pink hair.

All of a sudden the sound of Natsu's loud, obnoxious voice could be heard across the hall.

"Oi, Metal freak did you get uglier while I was gone?", Natsu taunted Gajeel Redfox. He shuddered at the lameness of his taunt. He really was losing his touch. Well, whatever he was only after a fight after all.

Gajeel just ignored him. That made Natsu angry. He was tired of his attempts at fighting going nowhere. He decided to up the ante by throwing his mug at the Iron Dragon Slayer managing to hit him right on his head, hard. That did it, Gajeel was now furious and getting up from his seat with murder in his eyes.

"You want a piece of me? Let's go, Salamander", Gajeel finally uttered the words that the Fire Dragon Slayer had been waiting to hear. Natsu's signature grin graced his features and he happily readied his fists to meet Gajeel's. It felt so good to feel like his normal self again.

The two dragon slayers fought each other roughly using their heads, their fists and their legs. In unspoken agreement they used no magic against the other. They did not want to destroy the building's structure and anger their Master. They made each other fly across the room and crashed into tables, they threw chairs and whatever they could get their hands on at each other in reckless abandon losing themselves to the thrill of their fight. Soon, the fight began to rage out of control and other members of the guild, including Gray, happily joined in the fray. Fairy Tail was known for their out of control brawls after all.

Erza came out of the Master's office. She heard the loud noises coming from the lower floor and was on her way to stop it. 'I can't believe those two idiots, they couldn't even last twenty minutes', she thought sadly.

She looked down to the first floor fully expecting to see Gray and Natsu going at it yet again only to be surprised by what she saw instead. Gray and Natsu were fighting near each other. Suddenly their backs bumped into each other and they both turned quickly with their fists raised.

Natsu was having a great time, Gajeel quickly forgotten as other opponents became available. This was exactly what he needed to take his mind off the weirdness with the Ice Princess. At least now he knew he could still fight. Everything would be fine. He had somehow made his way to the middle of the guild and as he searched for a new opponent his back bumped into another. He quickly raised his fists and turned to face whoever it was and came face to face with Gray, also with his fists raised. His smile grew even wider as he faced his rival, fist at the ready. Gray also had a huge grin on his pale face when he recognized his opponent. Natsu, looking forward to wiping that smile off his friend's face, powered his fist and... nothing. His fist would not go any closer to the ice mage no matter how much he willed it. He gaped at Gray and saw him make a similar expression, his fist also at the ready but moving no closer to Natsu. Disbelief then turned to anger, and then sadness as they turned away from each other. Both looked for another to fight.

Erza let the brawl continue for another minute before shutting it down and instructing everyone to clean up the mess. This was so much better than she had hoped! She was so happy that the potion seemed to be working that she failed to notice the sad, confused looks that had been on her friends faces during the encounter. She ordered a piece of strawberry cake to celebrate and walked over to their table to sit with Lucy who had not taken part in the brawl.

Gray and Natsu returned from doing their part of the cleanup and joined Erza and Lucy at the table.

"I am really impressed with the restraint that you just showed! That must have been hard for you guys.", Erza said warmly. She embraced the pair in a sisterly hug.

"Yeah, restraint", Natsu muttered grumpily.

His mind raced to try to understand the events of the day. He couldn't fight with Gray? How is that even possible? He had spent a large part of his life doing just that. Could they even be friends if they couldn't fight each other? That's pretty much the only way they communicated. Well that and insults. He had to figure out a way to fix this before he lost his best friend. Best friend? When the hell did I start to think of Gray Fullbuster as my best friend? He had to admit to himself that it rang true. He was upset all over again, he liked things simple and this weird situation was more than he wanted to deal with at the moment.

Gray did not respond at all. He was trying to come to terms with what had just happened. How was it possible that he could not make his arm do what he wanted? He clearly sent commands to his brain that were not followed. This went beyond suddenly losing the desire to fight the dragon slayer while in his presence. There was no way that this had anything to do with their agreement with Erza. It felt somehow magical but what kind of magic could do something like this? Both he and Natsu clearly had no problems fighting others. They just could not fight each other. That was oddly specific. All he knew for certain was that something had changed after they finished their last mission and he was very sure that he did not like it.

Lucy looked from Erza's happy expression to Natsu and Gray's undecipherable ones and became uneasy once again. She vowed to pay closer attention to the boys behavior. Erza began talking about looking for another job soon while the others begged for a few days off. They agreed to go on a job in two days time. Natsu went home while Gray headed over towards Cana and settled in for a night of drinking with his friend.


	5. Time Off

Disclaimer: All Fairy Tail Characters Belong to Hiro Mashima

Chapter 5: Time Off

First Day Off

Natsu slowly opened his eyes as the first rays of daylight leaked through his window. He still felt very tired after the long and mostly sleepless night he had endured but he could not go back to sleep. He decided that today would be a good day to go fishing with Happy. They hadn't spent too much time together lately and he missed their easy companionship.

"Hey Happy, would you like to go fishing today?", Natsu asked the young Exceed who was awake but snuggled in his own hammock.

"Would I, I'll go get the fishing rods!", Happy answered joyously. He liked the idea of having Natsu to himself for a change. He knew something was bothering his friend but he would not ask. He knew better than to push Natsu until he was ready to talk. Natsu had a short temper and a stubborn streak a mile long. He could not be forced.

"Hang on, let's at least eat some breakfast first.", Natsu got up and padded towards his small kitchen where he got busy preparing food for the two of them. They quietly ate their breakfast and left their small house shortly after, fishing rods and bait in hand. They headed to their favorite spot that no one else knew about and sat down patiently waiting for the fish to start biting.

"Natsu, this was a great idea. I have really missed doing stuff like this.", Happy said.

"Yeah, ever since we have been going on all these jobs with everyone there's been no time to just relax. I'd almost forgotten how much I enjoy doing this", Natsu allowed himself to not think about anything in particular. His tense muscles started to relax a little at a time.

"Hey Natsu, do you think that Carla will ever accept my fish?", Happy asked hopefully.

"I don't know? I hope so. I know you want her to. I'm not really the best person to ask about these types of things.", Natsu replied. He wished he could be more comforting to his little friend.

"Why not?", asked Happy

"Uhm, I guess because I don't have anyone that I would like to give a fish to.", Natsu tried to answer in a way the Exceed would understand.

"Not even a little?", Happy pried gently.

"Not even a little. I guess that means that you are more mature than me.", Natsu smiled fondly at his Exceed and gave him a hug.

"Doesn't that make you feel lonely?", asked Happy looking intently at his friend's face.

"Not really, Igneel told me that I will have only one person I will give a fish to in my life but they will be my everything and we will be spiritually bound to each other. That sounds pretty intense so I want to make sure I find the right one and make them happy. So yeah, sometimes I feel like I would like to have someone like that, and other times it seems like it is so complicated and I have enough trouble with simple emotions. So for right now I am fine with things the way they are. I have friends and they are all like family so why would I be lonely? How come you are asking me about this now?", Natsu asked curiously.

"I don't know, I guess because if Carla ever did accept my fish I want to make sure that you are not alone.", Happy answered sweetly. The dragon slayer was touched by his Exceed's concern. He really did hope that Carla would one day accept Happy. The fish chose that moment to start biting and they spent a pleasant morning in each other's company talking about everything and nothing while enjoying their catch. They eventually fell asleep and dozed the afternoon away.

Gray, on the other hand, woke up with a horrible hangover. He did not usually drink very much but he had wanted to get to the point where he could not think coherently anymore. At least he had made Cana happy. She had been nagging him to drink with her for a few weeks. Loke had showed up as well and they, as well as Levy, Gajeel, Mira, Lucy, Lisanna and Erza had all played a silly drinking game where they had to drink whenever Elfman said the word man or manly. Every once in a while one of them would egg the male Strauss on trying to get him to say the words. Needless to say they were all fairly intoxicated very quickly. The rest of the night was a blur but he had been able to stumble home without too much of a problem.

He tried to get up but his head was pounding and he considered casting an Ice Make Hammer on himself just to put himself out of his misery. Probably not a good idea. He slowly moved off of his bed and went to look for some headache medicine and lots of water. Breakfast was a no go as the mere thought of food was making him queasy. He was ready to kill whoever came up with that game. Why couldn't they have chosen something else like how many times Happy said "Aye, sir!" or how many times Natsu said "I'm all fired up." Oh that's right, he remembered now, Natsu and Happy had left the guild early. With that thought everything that he had been trying to avoid thinking about came back to him.

'I need to figure out what is going on with us', Gray thought calmly, 'I guess we should talk about it soon before it becomes obvious to everyone that it is not by choice.' He wondered how that conversation would go. Natsu really did not like to talk about things, in that way he was almost worse than Gray himself. Gray sighed to himself. He definitely was in no condition to have any serious conversation at the moment, especially if Natsu got loud. He winced at the thought of how the dragon slayer's loud voice would affect him in his current condition. I can talk to him tomorrow. He spent the rest of the day recovering and doing errands that he had put off for awhile.

Second Day Off

Gray set off to look for Natsu. He had armed himself with a lot of patience for he knew his task was going to be a difficult one. He decided to stop at the guild first figuring the fire mage might go there for breakfast. He entered the guild quietly and looked around. It was early enough that the guild hall was fairly empty.

"Good Morning, Gray!", Mira greeted him with her sweet voice, "We missed you yesterday."

"Morning, Mira. Sorry, I spent most of yesterday wishing I was dead.", he replied seriously.

Mira chuckled, she had a lot of fun playing that drinking game but she had to agree she had wanted to die once or twice herself.

"No argument there. Can I get you something this morning?", she inquired.

"Uhm yeah, can I have some breakfast and some ice water? By the way have you seen Natsu today?", Gray asked the take over mage.

"Coming right up and no I haven't. He wasn't here yesterday either.", Mirajane replied as she went into the kitchen to fetch Gray's order.

Gray decided to eat his breakfast slowly and wait around for a bit in the hopes that Natsu would show up. When he was done he got ready to leave and start searching the town for his friend. At times like this it would be nice to have a dragon slayer's senses. It would make finding his friend a lot faster if he could just track his scent. He exited the guild and started heading towards the fire mage's house. On the way there he saw a familiar blue Exceed flying in his direction.

"Oi Happy, where's the Flame Brain?", asked Gray.

"Hey Gray, he is training in the forest if you keep heading that way you shouldn't miss him!", Happy waved and kept flying towards the guild.

Gray continued walking slowly in the direction Happy had mentioned. He could hear the sounds of his friend's training. When he arrived at the spot where the fire mage was training he stopped to watch him for a bit. He knew the fire mage worked very hard to keep his body and his magic in top condition and it showed. He had joined him a few times over the years and he always ended up feeling exhausted. He always loved sparring with Natsu, because the the fiery mouth breather always gave it his all and that made him have to do the same. Thanks to this he had acquired some resistance to fire magic as there were few mages that could rival the heat of a Fire Dragon Slayer's flames.

Natsu finished his warm up exercises and looked up to see Gray watching him.

"See something you like, Droopy eyes?", Natsu grinned at his barely dressed friend who was once again in his underwear. These days, he usually only mentioned Gray's state of dress if he was fully naked or was inappropriately dressed for wherever they were going. "I'm going on my run, want to come?"

Gray startled at his voice. "Who you calling Droopy eyes, Squinty eyes? What distance?", he asked warily. Sometimes Natsu ran over ten miles in one day and he was not feeling up to that just yet after his hangover.

"Just a couple of miles today, I want to work on some fighting moves after.", Natsu answered as he started running at a comfortable pace. Gray started running alongside him figuring this might be a good time to talk. Natsu was usually pretty relaxed when he was running for training.

"So about the other day", he started.

"Pass.", Natsu answered keeping to his pace.

"What do you mean pass? Don't you think we need to discuss it?", Gray urged, keeping up with Natsu's pace. "You don't think it's strange that we seem to be incapable of fighting each other after years of doing nothing but."

"Ugh, again with the talking. You're worse than a woman. Why must we talk about everything lately?", Natsu complained, "If you don't feel like fighting me then don't. End of story."

"Oh, I feel like fighting you alright. I just can't. Don't pretend you don't know what I am talking about. I saw you, you were looking at your fist the same way I was.", Gray pushed, "Go ahead try to punch me."

"You're being stupid! I just don't want to, we're running remember? We're halfway done, let's sprint the last mile.", Natsu did his best to focus on his breathing and increased his speed. He did not want to face this, he did not want to start the process of losing his friend. He had decided to play dumb and it is very difficult to talk while sprinting.

Gray sped up but had to admit defeat as he was starting to huff while sprinting. He was having a hard enough time keeping air in his lungs at this pace. Fine he would continue this conversation after their run was over. Maybe he should ask Natsu if he could train with him for a while. He felt out of shape. Finally, the torturous pace finished and they walked for a bit to cool down, both somewhat out of breath.

He decided to test the limits of what he knew. Alright, so he couldn't hit him. Could he touch him? Gray tried to grab Natsu's arm to get him to stop for a minute. He was able to do so without a problem.

Natsu looked at him and stopped. "I know what you're doing.", he said in an irritated voice.

"Well, then help me figure it out. Maybe we can figure out a way to trick whatever this is.", Gray kept his voice level. He was determined to stay calm.

"Trick whatever this is? You sound crazy!", Natsu scoffed.

"And you sound scared.", Gray pointed out calmly, "Ok, so we can touch each other normally. Now I'm going to try to shove you, ok?"

Gray thought about shoving Natsu, he bent his elbows towards his chest to get ready for the motion and once again he was not able to do what he wanted.

"You look idiotic, stop thinking about it and just do it!", Natsu almost begged him to do it.

"Gah, I can't!", Gray grunted in frustration. "What about magic? Can you attack me with magic?"

Natsu gave in and decided to try to help Gray figure out their current issue. He already knew he could not attack with his fists so he decided to try to cast a Fire Dragon Roar instead.

He placed his hands in front of his mouth to focus the flame towards Gray and yelled "FIRE DRAGON ROAR".

Gray waited expectantly for the attack to materialize but nothing happened.

Natsu almost wept in frustration.

So even their magic would not cooperate. Considering how often they fought near each other this could be a disaster on missions. They spent the rest of the afternoon testing different scenarios, no matter how improbable. They were able to get a sense of what they could and could not do while using magical attacks and what distance they needed to keep from each other to be effective. They agreed to become training partners so that they could continue exploring this mess without anyone becoming the wiser for now. Gray had been right, they had needed to talk about this and they would need to figure out whatever was going on but that would have to wait. Erza wanted to go on a mission tomorrow morning and right now the fate of their team was on the line.


	6. Just Another Mission

Disclaimer: All Fairy Tail Characters Belong to Hiro Mashima

Chapter 6: Just Another Mission

Natsu and Gray met early the following morning for a quick breakfast before meeting the girls at the train station. Natsu asked Happy to stay with Wendy and Carla while he was gone. Happy was very astute and not good at keeping secrets. It was safer to keep him at a distance while they sorted this mess out.

The job that Erza had picked should take about 3 to 4 days to complete. They were going to be taking out a group of bandits that was threatening another town. The request estimated that there were about 50 bandits in the group. They would need to find their hideout and take the bandits out. As fas as they knew there were no magic users in the group but they did use magical weapons.

The walk to the train station passed quickly. They were excitedly discussing different things they wanted to try in their new training regimen. They were disappointed to not be able to spar or do weapons training but it couldn't be helped at the moment. They would work on ways to fight together with their magic instead so that they could remain on the same team without jeopardizing anyone's safety.

The realization that he and Gray would be training together regularly had helped Natsu quell his fears. He had also finally realized that while they might not be able to fight physically there was nothing keeping them from yelling or insulting each other. This was after all another integral part of their weird friendship / rivalry. Although he cared about everyone in the guild, there were really only a handful of people that he felt very close to and barring Lucy and Wendy he had grown up with all of them. The fear of being abandoned by any of the people in this small group, a result of Igneel's disappearance so many years ago, was still strong.

Erza and Lucy were already at the train station waiting with tickets in hand. They were mildly surprised to see the two boys arrive together, and on time for once. A small smile touched Erza's lips as she saw that whatever they were talking about had them gesturing wildly with excited looks on their faces. They joined them on the platform and became silent.

"Good morning, Natsu, Gray.", Erza nodded at her teammates, "I see you are both on time for once."

"Good morning.", they greeted their teammates.

"What were you talking about just now?", Erza asked curiously.

"Nothing really. I asked the pink haired freak if I could train with him for a while. We were just discussing some of the things we wanted to work on.", Gray replied evenly.

"Begged is more like it. You should have heard the loud mouthed streaker's breathing after barely running two miles yesterday!", Natsu mocked his friend, "No wonder they call him a pervert. It was pitiful!"

"You made us sprint for the entire last mile, who the hell does that?", Gray sputtered, "And for the record you are the only one who calls me that."

"Better get used to it, you're going to be training with the big boys now!", Natsu teased the ice mage.

Lucy smirked at the idea of those two idiots training together. She could imagine them running until one of them collapsed, doing push ups until one of them collapsed. Actually, pretty much everything she imagined ended up with one of them collapsing. She giggled to herself.

"You two will be training together? How did I not think of that before? We should have been doing that all along as a team. Natsu needs help with his weapons handling. He relies on his fire too much in a fight and is practically useless without it. I have certainly been remiss on attending to that. We should also get a better feel for all of Lucy's spirits, we have been relying too much on Loke and Virgo as of late, not to mention her stamina is lacking and Gray, where to start...", Erza continued enthusiastically going on and on with the things she wanted to incorporate into her hijacked team training. A dark aura was starting to surround her and her eyes were practically gleaming with anticipation. She had even managed to requip into exercise clothing.

'Wait, what! That's not funny at all!', Lucy thought. If Natsu and Gray training together was bad, training with Erza could be deadly. She watched Natsu and Gray's reactions to Erza's plan wishing that they would somehow put a stop to this lunacy.

Gray looked at Erza, amused at her need to take control over everything having to do with their team. Some of her ideas could be interesting and challenging. Maybe it would be ok? Until he heard her say the following:

"Not to mention that it will give you the ability to spar each other constructively. I mean maybe if you know that you will have these opportunities then you won't feel the need to engage in stupid fights all the time!", Erza finished, clearly pleased with her plan.

Lucy did not miss the panicked expressions on Natsu and Gray's faces and wondered why they would react that way. Lucy thought that Erza was on to something, if they could fight each other during training they should have no energy left to destroy the guild.

"Erza, that sounds great and all but I think I would rather start with just the two of us for now.", Gray came to their defense and then promptly threw Lucy to the hounds by suggesting she and Lucy train together instead. Natsu snickered at the suggestion, but gave Lucy an apologetic smile. Erza seemed a little disappointed at first but agreed that it was a great idea.

They quickly got on the train and claimed some seats. The town was four hours away and Erza spent the entire first hour listing all of the things that Lucy needed to work on and promised they would start as soon as they returned from this mission. Gray almost felt sorry for Lucy, she looked sicker than the Dragon Slayer. He shuddered when he saw the glare she was sending his direction and felt a little guilty for his actions. He'd have to make it up to her later. He let his gaze rest on the fire mage.

Natsu looked miserable as usual. His motion sickness always made him a horrible companion on train rides. Gray had already lost track of the number of times he had asked how much longer to their destination. He had never given much thought about how truly torturous it must be for the dragon slayer to have to take transportation all the time. It had always been a form of sadistic amusement for Gray to see his powerful friend be defeated by something so ordinary. Gray remembered hearing that ice could help with motion sickness and decided to try it out. Without giving any thought as to why he was doing so he called on his ice make magic and made and ice pack for his friend. He placed the ice pack on the back of Natsu's neck. Natsu's reaction was immediate.

"Dude, what the hell!", the initial shock from the ice caused Natsu to jolt from his seat and almost hurl from the jerky motion. He sent a pissed off glare in Gray's direction only to sit back down and lean in to the ice pack, relief evident.

"That actually feels a little better, thanks Icicle.", Natsu said gratefully and offered Gray a small smile. He fell asleep shortly after that and did not wake until they arrived.

Gray was surprised at the feeling that came over him when he saw that smile. He wasn't sure what the feeling signified but it was certainly unexpected. He filed it in the back of his mind to be analyzed later and dozed off. He was still tired from their training yesterday.

Once they collected their belongings and got off the train it was late afternoon. They gave Natsu a few minutes to recover from his motion sickness and then set off to look for an inn. They checked in to two rooms and went to talk to the mayor of the town who had initiated the request.

The mayor informed them that a group of the bandits had attacked several residences in the town two evenings prior and if they held to their pattern they should be returning in 5 days time. He did not know where their hideout was but they always seemed to approach from the same direction, the nearby mountains. He thought there might be some caves at the base that might be worth checking out. They had an early dinner and snuck off into the night to try to find the bandits' hideout in the cover of darkness.

They let the Fire Dragon Slayer take the lead. His tracking ability was unrivaled, even among the other Dragon Slayers. They followed him quietly for several miles as he tried to figure out the scents assaulting his sensitive nose. After an hour or so of this they started hearing noises and saw a large cave in the distance. They stopped and looked for cover to observe the bandit's movements. At this point Erza took over looking for potential weaknesses in their defenses. She sent Gray to search for any additional information he could gather about the camp that would be helpful to their planning. Lucy also looked around to get a better idea of how her spirits could be useful in the coming fight. Once they were satisfied they headed back to their inn quietly allowing Natsu to lead them back.

The next morning was spent in planning strategy for their attack. Lucy and Erza had gone to the boys' room to get them for breakfast only to find the room already empty. They had found them already sitting at a table in the inn's dining room discussing strategy and team placement for that evening. This was rather surprising as Natsu's usual strategy to any conflict was to hit as hard as possible and then set everything on fire. He never participated in the planning. He barely listened to the plans half the time. He just ran ahead and did his thing.

Erza looked at her foster brothers proudly and to Lucy's amusement she seemed like she might cry at any minute. The girls joined them at their table and ordered food while continuing to discuss their options. Erza's pride, however, gave way to anger when Gray and Natsu would not agree to her plan and steadfastly refused to be placed on the same attack team. They would not give her a clear reason why and they refused to back down. Erza was getting more and more agitated but could not detect any sign of animosity between them and to her chagrin they were being rather calm about the whole thing. She finally gave in when threats did not work and agreed on a plan of action that kept them separated. The team grabbed some provisions and headed out. They stopped by the local law enforcement to tell them the location of the bandits hideout. They were given a flare to signal that the bandits were captured. Law enforcement would then come collect them.

They went over the plan one last time before they reached their vantage point. Erza would quietly take out the guards outside the cave while Gray would go after any bandit patrols. They would then wait for additional bandits to come out. Once the guards were taken care of Lucy would summon Virgo to create a pit trap at the cave entrance hoping to catch the bandits unaware as they ran out. Natsu would enter the cave and attack, he would also set a fire to force some of the bandits out towards Lucy's pit and Erza and Gray. Natsu would then take out any bandits left in the cave. They would keep watch during the afternoon to make sure there weren't any surprises and attack at twilight.

After many boring hours of waiting Erza finally gave Natsu the signal to start sneaking towards the cave without being detected. Natsu moved with cat like grace using the cover provided by twilight to remain hidden. He gave his signal that he was in position and tried to wait patiently for Erza to take out the guards. There were only five guards in the mouth of the cave but there were also five others patrolling the area. Erza took out all five guards without making a sound. Lucy summoned Virgo to create the pit trap. So far everything was going according to plan. Unfortunately Gray was not able to take out the last bandit before he noticed his fallen comrades. The bandit screamed "Intruders!" at the top of his lungs and all hell broke loose.

Bandits started running out of the cave before Natsu had a chance to get inside. Thankfully at least a dozen of them fell into Virgo's trap, leaving around thirty angry bandits wielding magical weapons for the four wizards to defeat. Natsu was now in the unenviable position of making sure that he was far enough away from Gray's range to not screw up their magic while keeping track of the bandits and their weapons. They had practiced the previous day but it was a lot different when facing actual battle conditions. He took a deep breath and went after the group of bandits that were the furthest away from the ice mage. Lucy had now moved to be by his side and was summoning Loke to help them fight, her whip out and ready.

Loke appeared and immediately started using his Regulus magic to knock out a group of five bandits that was coming after Lucy. Natsu nervously called on his Dragon Slayer magic hoping he was far enough away. He would not use any of his stronger spells as the bandits were not mages. He yelled "FIRE DRAGON ROAR" and focused his flames on a group of six bandits that were coming at him weapons ready to discharge. They screamed in pain and dropped their weapons as the flames danced on their skin. They collapsed and made no move to get back up again, their bodies shuddering on the ground.

Natsu, Lucy and Loke ran towards Erza who was fighting a large number of bandits. Lucy ran a little ahead of them.

Natsu forgot to keep track of Gray while heading towards Erza and managed to be inside the range of effect they had discovered the previous day. Suddenly from very close by he heard the ice mage yell "ICE MAKE SHIELD". A group of three bandits had discharged their weapons at the ice mage and thanks to Natsu's carelessness Gray's defensive shield did not materialize. Thankfully Loke had been paying attention and tackled Gray to the ground.

"Damnit Natsu!", Gray yelled out.

"Crap, I'm sorry. Where did you even come from?", Natsu ran as fast as he could to Erza's side to help her and Lucy defeat the remaining bandits.

Loke took out the bandits that had shot at Gray and helped him up.

He looked at Gray and said, "What the hell just happened?"

"I was too slow and almost got my ass handed to me, thanks for the assist!", Gray chuckled half heartedly scratching the back of his head. " Now, let's finish taking out these bastards!"

Loke looked at his friend warily and said, "I'm pretty sure that's not what I saw. Why did your shield not appear when you cast it and why were you yelling at Salamander?"

"Loke, just drop it. Now is really not the time.", Gray grunted looking around for any remaining bandits to fight.

"It looks like all the bandits are taken care of, how about you tell me what's going on?", Loke continued to press Gray for an answer. The two boys were good friends and it worried Loke that Gray might be having trouble controlling his magic, although he wasn't sure what Natsu could have to do with it. It didn't really make sense.

"Nothing is going on. I yell at Natsu all the time or have you been away for so long that you have forgotten.", Gray evaded as best he could.

Loke looked like he was going to continue pushing so Gray looked around and yelled "ICE MAKE HAMMER". An enormous hammer made out of ice materialized in front of him. He smashed it on the ground in front of the Celestial Spirit.

"Happy?", Gray asked Loke, "Like I said I was just too slow."

Loke did not look convinced but he let it go for now. The two friends walked towards the rest of the team. They helped restrain all of the bandits and Erza sent Natsu inside the cave to make sure it was empty. It did not escape Loke's notice that Natsu had shot Gray an apologetic look before entering the cave. There was definitely something going on. He made a note to ask Lucy later and returned to the Spirit World.

Erza fired the signal flare and the group waited for the prisoners to be picked up. They ate the remainder of their provisions and agreed to leave in the morning after collecting their reward.


	7. Surrender

Disclaimer: All Fairy Tail Characters belong to Hiro Mashima

Chapter 7: Surrender

The return trip was uneventful. Erza was thrilled on how well her plan seemed to be working. Lucy was excited to be returning to Magnolia with enough jewel to pay her rent for the month. Natsu and Gray seemed a bit tense but Gray quietly handed Natsu another ice pack for the ride home. They both dozed off and awoke when the train conductor announced their arrival at Magnolia Station. When Gray opened his eyes he encountered the amused expressions of his two female teammates. He looked at them confusedly until he felt the unexpected weight on his lap. Somehow during the train ride Natsu's head had ended up on his lap and Gray's hand was on his forehead. He startled and Natsu opened his olive eyes slowly and looked straight up at him. Natsu jolted up and quickly exited the train. He could hear the girls teasing the ice mage behind him.

Natsu took off in the direction of the guild. That seemed like the safest place to go to avoid any serious conversation. At least for awhile longer. After what happened the previous night he knew what he had to do but he just wanted to pretend everything was normal for a bit longer. He stopped at the guild's front doors and took a deep breath to settle himself. He plastered a grin on his face and kicked the door in.

"I'm back!", Natsu mustered a somewhat cheerful yell as he walked in to the place he considered his home. His nakama gave him happy greetings in return. To no one's surprise he headed straight to the counter to order himself some lunch. The rest of his team arrived shortly after his food. They sat at their usual table, Natsu stayed at the counter to finish his meal.

Gray had been expecting the fire dragon slayer to join them when they sat down at their table but then again Natsu had been acting strangely since the end of their mission. He had not said more that five words when they had returned to their room the previous night and he had gone straight to bed. The morning had not gone much better. Natsu would respond when talked to but otherwise seemed to be lost in his own thoughts, occasionally Gray would catch the dragon slayer looking at him thoughtfully before glancing away without a word.

They all spent the rest of the day at the guild. Natsu went around catching up with people he had somewhat drifted away from since Team Natsu came to be: Cana, Macao, Lisana, Mira, Elfman. He finally settled down at a table with the other Dragon Slayers and Levy. Wendy caught him up on Happy's adventures while he was gone and he smiled at her and ruffled her hair gently.

"Natsu-san, are you ok?", Wendy asked him quietly.

He looked at her in surprise and said "Of course I am Wendy, why do you ask?"

"I don't know, you seem sad and you smell different.", Wendy looked at him with big eyes. Gajeel looked at her and started sniffing the fire dragon slayer.

"She's right Salamander, you do smell different.", Gajeel straightened up and considered the Salamander.

"What do you mean, different how?", Natsu asked without much interest.

"I don't know man. You still smell mostly like you but there is also something different.", Gajeel shrugged, "It's probably nothing."

"Hey Iron Breath, gone on any interesting missions lately?", Natsu asked him. Gajeel looked surprised by the fire dragon slayer's attention but regaled him with some of his more recent exploits. Natsu was soon laughing at some of the more outlandish claims and scoffing at what had to be flat out exaggerations. Gajeel was a pretty good story teller for someone who was usually so quiet. Levy had leaned in closer to the Iron Dragon Slayer as he talked and looked at him adoringly. Wendy smiled, content to see her two older "brothers" getting along for once. Eventually, the stories ended and Natsu finally felt ready to join his teammates at their table for his last night as an active member of Team Natsu.

Natsu stopped for a drink and made his way over to his team's table. He sat next to Lucy and listened to their conversation for a bit. Wendy and Levy had also joined their group and the conversation became even livelier. There was much laughter and Natsu joined in but Wendy, Gray and Lucy noticed that none of it reached his eyes. Something was definitely up with their dragon slayer. When Natsu got up to leave Gray made to follow him. As Gray walked past Wendy she started and looked at him thoughtfully.

The dragon slayer shook his head at him and said with finality, "Good night, Ice Princess. I will see you tomorrow morning at training. Same place as last time."

Gray considered this and let him go. Tomorrow would be soon enough.

When Gray arrived at their meeting place the following morning Natsu was already there waiting.

"Good morning Frosty, you ready for this?", Natsu greeted Gray.

"Yeah, I'm all fired up!", Gray grinned at his friend.

"Hey, that's my line!', Natsu grinned back, "Alright, let's get started. We're doing five miles today."

They started stretching and doing warm up exercises to prepare their bodies for the upcoming exertions. Gray looked at Natsu's face but could not get a good read on what was going through his mind. They started their run keeping a nice relaxed pace, speed was not their goal. They kept on in uncomfortable silence for what felt like hours to Gray but was probably less than one. Finally, Natsu slowed down to a walk and led them to the riverbank. He sat down and Gray sat close to him. They sat quietly for a few minutes just looking around and catching their breath. The fact that Natsu had chosen this place to talk filled Gray with dread. In all their years of uneasy friendship this was the only place they ever allowed themselves to be vulnerable to the other.

Finally, Natsu took a deep breath before he looked at Gray and announced quietly, "I'm leaving the team. That mission was my last job."

"WHAT! You can't leave the team, it's got your name in it for Mavis' sake.", Gray spluttered out in disbelief. His breath caught in his throat as he finally understood what was going through the dimwit's mind.

"It's just a name. We both know Erza is the real leader anyway.", Natsu answered matter of factly.

"But why? Baka we were trying to stay on the team together, remember?", Gray tried to reason with him. He really did not like the idea of the fire breather leaving, something inside of him grew restless.

"How can you ask me that? I almost got you killed on our last job. It's not safe to play with this.", Natsu said sadly, "If Loke hadn't been there..."

"But he was, and I wouldn't have died anyway. It could just as easily have been me who messed you up.", Gray tried to assure him.

"But it wasn't. It was my fault, I wasn't careful enough and I left you defenseless. We were just lucky that those guys were not mages. Next time, they could be. I'm too reckless! You can't count on me to remember boundaries when I'm fighting. And the way things are now I can't even protect you if something goes wrong.", Natsu yelled angrily.

"I don't need you to protect me, Pinkie", Gray replied just as angrily, reverting to a name he had not used since their childhood.

"I just need you to be around.", he continued quietly.

Natsu startled at Gray's use of that old nickname. He didn't realize this would make Gray so upset.

"So we can't fight anymore. So what? I'll still be around, Snowflake.", he said softly, "Just as I always have. We can find a new 'our thing'. We'll hang out at the guild and have insult wars. We'll play pranks like we used to and I'll tease you about Juvia's stalking. When you come back from missions you'll tell me all about them and you will keep Erza, Lucy and Wendy safe for me."

Just like he had suspected when this all started he was going to lose his best friend. He hated it but he would hate it even more if Gray was hurt because of his impulsiveness. His eyes had grown teary and he leaned in to give Gray a hug hoping that he did not notice. As soon as he hugged the ice mage he felt a weird jolt go through his body and he jerked away from his friend. They were both giving each other an open-mouthed stare.

'Oh gods, what now?', thought the dragon slayer angrily.

"What the hell was that?", Gray looked ready to jump out of his skin.

"Your guess is as good as mine, Icicle. I swear, nothing has felt normal since I fell on your stupid ice.", Natsu said grumpily as he wrapped his arm around his knees.

"Look, I won't pretend to understand what is going on with us right now but I don't want you to leave", Gray pleaded with Natsu. After all their years together Natsu's presence, no matter how annoying at times, was as much a part of Gray as Gray himself was.

"Who says I'm going anywhere? Were you not listening?", Natsu looked at Gray in surprise.

"Don't lie to me Natsu, I know you too well. You're going to start by going on solo missions. Then you'll start taking jobs with someone every once in a while just to shut us up, or you'll go off looking for Igneel. Each time you will be gone longer until you'll barely be here at all.", Gray stared at Natsu.

Natsu looked away guiltily. He had already been thinking about going on a solo mission until Erza calmed down. He did not think she would be very pleased with him when he told her he was quitting. Natsu looked at Gray pleadingly trying to get him to understand what he was trying to do. He was just trying to keep him safe. Gray was having none of it.

They were facing each other and before they knew what was happening they started leaning in towards the other. They were wearing matching horrified expressions as it happened but Natsu couldn't blame Gray anymore than he could blame himself. Natsu knew that although he was trying, he couldn't stop it. It was a compulsion, almost like he was watching some other Natsu leaning in towards his friend. Before long their lips met. Although the kiss did not last long they both felt that weird spark again.

They stared at each other in shock when they noticed that they had somehow joined hands while they kissed. They quickly let go. Whatever the hell was going on Gray could only be glad that Juvia did not get her hands on it. He was amused to realize that if he had to pick between Natsu and Juvia he would still rather kiss the flame brain.

Natsu was touching his lips with his fingers and looking away from Gray.

"Do you think that maybe we've been cursed? I don't remember anyone casting a spell on us.", Gray asked thoughtfully.

"Is that all you have to say? What the hell just happened?", Natsu looked like he was trying to look anywhere but at his friend.

"I don't know. I didn't want to do it, but I couldn't not do it. I swear I tried to stop.", Gray assured him.

"I did too. It's ok, it doesn't mean anything, right? It's not like we have feelings for each other.", Natsu said as calmly as he could manage .

"Do you have feelings for someone?", Gray asked curiously.

"Do you?", Natsu deflected his question.

"I asked you first.", Gray reminded him.

"No, Ice Block. As of this morning, I don't have feelings for anyone. Unless you count frustration as a feeling in which case it would be all you", Natsu sighed scratching the back of his head. Gods, he was so confused.

"Same", Gray smirked.

"I think it's time we tell someone, this is too weird for us to handle on our own.", Natsu said.

"And tell them what, for some reason Natsu and I can no longer physically fight or use our magic within a certain range of each other , and oh by the way whatever it is also makes us kiss and hold hands. They would probably cheer about the first one and sell tickets to the second.", Gray snarked.

"When you put it that way... So what do we do? Unless one of us leaves the guild we can't avoid each other forever. What if it makes us do more? I'm not really comfortable with that. Dragon Slayer remember, I only get the one mate. We could end up bonded to each other forever", Natsu was very worried. He took his mate very seriously, even if he did not know who they were yet.

"You only get one mate?", Gray asked astounded, "That's kind of rough, still if it were to happen it wouldn't be so bad. Don't most people want to end up with their best friend?"

"And that, is the freaky magic talking", Natsu pointed out, "You are being amazingly flippant about my very limited love life."

"I'm just saying, the kiss was nice. We are looking for a new thing, maybe this is it.", Gray tried to sound reasonable.

"And I'm just saying we are under a spell or something and oh yeah, irrevocable consequences.", Natsu pointed out what seemed to him to be obvious. "You are failing to ask yourself some rather important questions like: Do you even like guys? or If we weren't affected by whatever this is would you even consider me as a choice?"

"Look, if this was because of something magical, I don't think we would we be able to discuss it rationally. Wouldn't we just be doing whatever? I think the fighting issue is magical but I think the kissing might be repressed feelings. Think about all the feelings we have been dealing with since the no fighting thing happened."

"You hardly sound rational. Come to think of it, you started being nice to me on the train when we came back from that disastrous mission. You made me that ice pack, you had never done that before.", Natsu said excitedly.

"What are you so excited about? Are you listening to me? Doesn't that actually prove my point, maybe I was nice because I wanted to be. We didn't even know we couldn't fight yet.", Gray looked at him in confusion.

"I don't know, maybe you got hit by more of the magic than I did or maybe I am fighting it off a bit better because I am a Fire Dragon Slayer. Or maybe it happened on the train.", Natsu thought aloud.

"Or maybe I am just more open to possibilities that you. I can't help but notice that you haven't yet said that you are not into guys or that you did not enjoy it.", Gray pointed out helpfully. Well, at least he thought he was being helpful.

"Ugh, you are being impossible. Are you seriously telling me that you, Gray Fullbuster, think you suddenly have feelings for me?", Natsu pinched the bridge of his nose, "You, who have spent the last 7 years telling me how annoying and stupid I am. Don't make me laugh, I will say it again freaky magic talking. Do you really not see how unlikely this is?"

"Ok, how about this. Let me kiss you again, if you really feel nothing then I will let this go and admit that it is indeed the freaky magic talking. If you do feel something then you will put your damn stubborness away and own up to it and then we will give this a shot.", Gray suggested.

Natsu looked like he wanted to kill him, all wild and feral, but it looked like he might be considering it.

"Fine, but I still fail to see how we would be able to tell the difference.", Natsu caved.

Gray smiled and he kissed Natsu with all the feelings he could muster for the pink headed idiot. When he felt Natsu surrender and kiss him back he grinned. It seems they had found their thing after all.

"I am still quitting the team.", Natsu said stubbornly. This was not up for debate.

"Alright, I won't fight you on that. What are you going to tell Erza?", Gray asked him seriously.

"I don't know.", Natsu replied honestly.

They kissed and held hands some more before they parted ways. They both had some thinking to do.


	8. First Misgivings

Disclaimer: All Fairy Tail Characters Belong to Hiro Mashima.

Chapter 8: First Misgivings

Wendy Marvell, Fairy Tail's Sky Dragon Slayer was troubled. She couldn't explain why exactly she was troubled but she was a healer and she knew when someone felt off. She had been having that feeling about Natsu Dragneel for the last few days. Ever since the night that Gajeel had been telling them stories about his missions. The mere fact that the Fire Dragon Slayer had been sitting with the Iron Dragon Slayer instead of his team was a big sign. Then there was the issue of his scent being different. She had hoped that the other scent was temporary and that Natsu would go back to normal but instead it had intensified and had become more him than his own scent.

Another guild member that was troubling her was Fairy Tail's only ice mage, Gray Fullbuster. He also had the same strange scent mixed in with his own natural scent. She had noticed it that same night when she had been sitting at Team Natsu's table. Like Natsu, that scent had now intensified to be stronger than his own. She had made sure to check Lucy and Erza without them noticing but neither one of them carried the strange scent. Whatever this was only affected the ice and fire mages.

Soon after, she had been surprised to smell Natsu and Gray's scents mingling on each other in a way that made it clear that they had entered some kind of relationship. However, instead of their scents mingling into one as was expected it was the other smell that had intensified. She did not know what that meant. She had been watching them and if they were indeed in a relationship they were keeping it to themselves for the time being. She needed the Iron Dragon Slayer to help her confirm her suspicions but he wasn't exactly known for his discretion and she knew that he would love to have something to lord over the Salamander. He was also friendly with Juvia Lockser who was unhealthily obsessed with her Gray-sama. Nothing good would come of Juvia finding out about them before they were ready for people to know.

When she noticed Gajeel sitting alone at his usual table she decided to approach him for help. She steeled herself and sat down across from the Iron Dragon Slayer.

"Good afternoon, Gajeel-san", Wendy greeted, "May I speak to you for a moment?"

"Sure thing Squirt, what's up?", the Iron Dragon Slayer answered affably.

"I need your help with something but I need you to promise me that you won't talk to anyone else about it.", Wendy looked at him hopefully.

"What do you need help with?", Gajeel asked curiously.

"It's about Natsu-san.", Wendy replied carefully.

"Salamander? What about him?", Gajeel was definitely interested now.

"You have to promise you won't talk about this to anyone and that includes Levy.", Wendy said firmly. She was not about to hand him this type of information without extracting a promise first.

Gajeel looked at Wendy and saw that she looked troubled. Whatever she was worried about was important to her. He would love to have something on the Salamander but not at the cost of the the young girl's trust. He sighed and gave her his promise.

"Have you noticed anything strange about Natsu-san's scent?". asked Wendy.

"I don't really spend a lot of time sniffing him, Wendy.", Gajeel replied.

"Can you please do so today? I want to know what you think. Also, can you please check out Gray-san as well?", Wendy gave him her best pleading look.

"Fullbuster? Why?", Gajeel was getting more curious by the second.

"I don't want to say anymore, I just want you to tell me what you smell.", Wendy would not say any more on the subject. Gajeel agreed to get back to her once he had a chance to do what she asked. She got up from the table and left him to his drinking.

The Iron Dragon Slayer did not have to wait long befor Natsu arrived at the guild. He looked tired. He grunted a greeting to the Iron Dragon Slayer and headed for the bar. While the Salamander ordered his food, Gajeel downed his drink and headed to the bar to get another.

"Hey Salamander, where've you been?", Gajeel ordered his drink and tried to sniff the Salamander without him noticing.

"Training with Gray. You should join us sometime. It gets pretty competitive, you might enjoy it. No magic though.", Natsu offered. Ever since the Iron Dragon Slayer had told him about his missions he liked him a bit better.

"Yeah, maybe.", Gajeel grabbed his drink and went back to his table. He had just gotten a whole lot of information. Wendy might be on to something.

Gray arrived an hour later, also looking tired. He joined Natsu at his table . They were talking quietly so Gajeel could not hear what they were saying. He would have to figure out a way to get nearer to the ice mage without alerting the Salamander. Thankfully, the opportunity presented itself when Gray went to use the rest room. Gajeel followed him timing it so that he entered the restroom as the ice mage left it. Gajeel waited a few minutes, washed his hands and returned to his table. His task now done he looked around for Wendy. This was turning out to be an interesting day, he was a bit annoyed that he had made his promise but he would keep it. He would have loved to taunt the Salamander with what he now knew.

Lucy entered the guild next. She half walked, half dragged herself to the table Natsu and Gray were sharing. They both looked up at her with pained expressions. Lucy glared at them but sat down.

"I take it things have not improved. What did Erza do to you today?", Natsu asked Lucy sympathetically.

"I'm not sure if I'm talking to you right now.", Lucy growled at him.

"Hey, I'm not the one who suggested you should train with Erza.", Natsu reminded her.

Gray looked at her, annoyed. "I've already said I was sorry, let it go."

Lucy grumbled , "Easy for you to say, you don't have to do her crazy training."

"Did Erza say what she wanted to talk to us about?", Natsu asked her nervously. It had been four days since he had told Gray about his decision to leave the team and he had yet to tell Erza. They had not gone on any missions since the one involving the bandits so he kept putting if off. Lucy had her rent money and Erza seemed to be enjoying training with the celestial mage. He did have a solo mission he was planning on taking as soon as he told her.

"She just wants us to get back to work, we should go to the request board and pick something before she does it for us.", Lucy said shuddering at the types of missions Erza usually picked.

"Maybe pick something that doesn't require a fire mage.", Natsu said quietly. He steeled himself. Today was going to be the day, he'd better come up with a good reason for leaving the team before Erza arrived. The problem was that no matter how much he tried, he was no closer to a fake reason that Erza would accept. He stood up and headed to the request board to check that the mission he had been considering was still there.

Lucy looked at Gray. "What did he mean by that?"

Gray shrugged, "How the hell would I know? I'm not his keeper."

Natsu grabbed the mission from the board and walked over to Mira. He quietly left the guild and headed home to find Happy and get his gear ready for his trip. He would only be gone for a few days, hopefully he would come up with something by then. He hoped Gray would not be upset with him for leaving.

Gajeel caught Wendy's attention and motioned her towards the infirmary. Wendy nodded, excused herself from her conversation and headed upstairs to the empty infirmary. Gajeel waited a few minutes and followed her. They closed the door behind them. Wendy looked at Gajeel expectantly.

"You were right, Squirt. Something strange is definitely going on with those two.", Gajeel started.

"What did you sense?", Wendy asked warily.

"Well, for starters that weird scent is still on the Salamander, on Fullbuster too. It's stronger than it was but it's actually strongest on Fullbuster.", he continued a little uncomfortably, "Also, they are together although it seems to be new based on how weak their scents still are on the other. I don't get that other scent at all, I don't understand how it can be overtaking their own scents. I've never seen anything like that before."

"That's what worries me, do you think they know that something is affecting them?". Wendy asked.

"I don't know, I'm still wrapping my head around Salamander and Fullbuster being together. Never saw that coming. ", Gajeel smirked.

"You promised.", Wendy said firmly, "Do you think Natsu-san has told Gray about mates?"

Gajeel only shrugged. "Hell if I know."

"So what should we do, should we talk to them?", Wendy asked him.

"I think you should talk to them. I'm done here.", Gajeel said and left the infirmary.

Wendy sighed. Although her suspicions had been confirmed by the Iron Dragon Slayer she still had no idea what it all meant. She was worried that her friends might have started a relationship after that scent had attached itself to them. If they mated and it was a mistake then Natsu would never be able to find his real mate and he would be forced to live his days out alone. She didn't want that to happen to her friend. She supposed that Gray could indeed be his mate but it just seemed so unlikely, she had always assumed the Fire Dragon Slayer would end up with Lisanna or Lucy. She made up her mind and headed back downstairs to look for Natsu and Gray.

"Where the hell is Natsu?", Erza asked loudly, "Lucy, didn't you tell him we were going out on a mission?"

"I -I did. He was just here a little while ago.", Lucy looked around the guild trying to get a glimpse of her pink haired friend.

"If you're looking for Natsu, he already left on a mission.", Mira informed them.

Gray started, and then snorted. He must have chickened out again. It irked him a little that Natsu had left without telling him anything but he supposed he understood.

"Why would he take a mission when I had already told him we were going to be going on one? That's not like him.", Lucy said worriedly. Natsu had been acting so strangely lately. She wondered if he was ever going to tell her what was bothering him, she had been expecting him to sneak into her room for days now.

"Who cares, we don't need the flame brain. Just pick a mission and let's go.", Gray said unaffectedly.

Erza was annoyed but went to the request board to find a mission worthy of her team. Wendy approached their table and looked at Gray.

"Please excuse me. Gray-san, can I talk to you for a moment?", Wendy asked politely.

Gray looked at her curiously and nodded.

"In private.", Wendy motioned for him to follow her and went back upstairs to the infirmary.

"What's that about?", Lucy asked the ice mage.

"I have no idea. I suppose I should go see what she wants to talk to me about. Tell Erza, I will be back soon", Gray got up and followed Wendy to the infirmary.

He hoped this was not yet another talk about Juvia. He knew that everyone in the guild expected him to give in to her crazy attentions eventually but he was not interested in her in that way at all. Just because she chose to have feelings for him did not mean that he a duty to return them. Even less now that he and Natsu were whatever they were to each other. He smiled briefly as he thought about the fire mage. He entered the room and closed the door behind him. He noticed the Sky Dragon Slayer wringing her hands and smiled at her to ease her nerves.

"What is it you want to talk to me about Wendy?", Gray asked the young girl.

"Uhm, I wanted to talk to you about Natsu-san.", Wendy blushed at the ice mage furiously.

"Flame Brain? What about him?", Gray asked confusedly.

This was definitely not the conversation that he had been expecting. Why would she want to talk to him about Natsu? Unless she knew about them. How could she know? They had been very careful around others, acting as they normally would. Of course, he cursed, those damn dragon slayer senses. He took that thought one step further and realized that if she knew then Gajeel and Laxus could not be far behind. And of course Flame Brain had abandoned him to go on a mission. Just great. He couldn't wait to leave on his own mission soon.

Wendy started to talk when the infirmary door opened and she was surprised to see Gajeel enter the room. He crossed his arms and leaned against the door.

"Gajeel-san, what are you doing here?, Wendy eyed him suspiciously.

"I saw you come up here with Fullbuster and I didn't feel right leaving the two of you alone.", Gajeel glared at Gray.

"What the hell are you implying?", Gray huffed angrily.

"The girl is like my sister and I ain't sure how you are going to react to what she has to say. I'm here for her safety.", Gajeel looked at him coldly.

"I would never do anything to ...", Gray was furious at the implication that he would hurt Wendy.

"Shut it, I ain't leaving. Deal with it.", Gajeel interrupted. They did not know what the scent was but it had somehow already made two of the most volatile members of Fairy Tail pursue a relationship, he wasn't sure it couldn't make them do other things if threatened. He was not going to let anything happen to Wendy.

"Gray-san, it's ok. Gajeel-san already knows what I wanted to talk to you about.", Wendy assured him. She gave Gajeel a grateful smile. She hadn't been really worried that she was in danger, but it was nice to know that the Iron Dragon Slayer cared. The ice mage looked anything but assured but she pressed on anyway.

"Gray-san did something strange happen in one of your last missions?", Wendy asked carefully.

"Define strange, most of our missions are kind of strange. You know that.", Gray replied.

"I mean just to you and Natsu-san.", Wendy pressed.

"No, what is this about Wendy? I have to leave soon.", Gray was starting to feel anxious. He did not like Gajeel being in the room.

Wendy sighed and decided to just be honest.

"The day that you all returned from the bandits mission, Natsu-san was acting strangely. He seemed to be avoiding your team and he came to sit with me and Gajeel-san. We both noticed a strange scent on him, one that did not belong. It did not seem to come from a person. We mentioned it to him but he did not seem concerned about it. I smelled the same scent on you later that night but not on Lucy or Erza.", Wendy began. She looked at Gray to make sure he was listening before she started the next part.

"I did not think much about it at the time because I assumed it would go away and you would both go back to normal. But Gray-san, it's been four days and that scent has only gotten stronger and both your normal scents are getting weaker. Even worse, Gajeel verified this morning that it's strongest on you.", Wendy continued.

Gray was getting a bad feeling as he remembered Natsu's words.

"I don't know, maybe you got hit by more of the magic than I did or maybe I am fighting it off a bit better because I am a Fire Dragon Slayer. Or maybe it happened on the train."

"We can't fight each other, or use magic near each other within a certain range.", Gray burst out before he could stop himself. He wanted to keep the conversation away from their relationship. Wanted to stop himself from thinking about the implications those words could have. He refused to consider that his feelings for Natsu might not be real.

"WHAT? You idiot! How long has that been going on? Why wouldn't you tell anyone? You could have put your team mates in danger!", Gajeel screamed at him.

He tried to remember when exactly they had first noticed that they could not fight each other.

"Maybe ten days ago? We had just gotten back from a mission.", Gray said unsurely, "We didn't tell anyone because we figured out the range of the effect so that we could work around it. We figured it was temporary."

"And when did you two hook up?", Gajeel sneered at him.

"It's none of your damn business.", Gray said defensively, hating that Gajeel was in the room and talking so callously about their relationship. Hating that he knew about it in the first place.

"Gray-san, please. We don't mean to pry but it might be important. Has Natsu-san talked to you about mates?", Wendy asked him gently, "We don't need details, can you just tell us whether you got together before or after you noticed you couldn't fight?"

Gray's shoulders slumped. Yes, Natsu-san had.

"So what do we do? Unless one of us leaves the guild we can't avoid each other forever. What if it makes us do more? I'm not really comfortable with that. Dragon Slayer remember, I only get the one mate. We could end up bonded to each other forever."

"After.", Gray answered so softly only a Dragon Slayer would be able to hear it.

In a more normal tone he said "I have to go, Erza and Lucy are waiting for me."

"Where is Natsu-san?", Wendy asked.

Gray answered them truthfully. "I don't know, he went off on a mission. He's avoiding telling Erza that he is quitting the team."

"Why is he quitting the team?", Wendy asked confusedly.

Gray looked at Gajeel and said, "Because Gajeel is right, we were stupid not to tell anyone and someone almost got hurt. Do you know what could be causing this?"

Both dragon slayers shook their heads. They had no idea what this was, it didn't feel like a spell but it was definitely magical in nature and it was getting stronger with each passing day.

"We will look into it. It might be helpful if we can get Levy involved, she might be able to do research and figure out what this is.", Wendy looked at him pleadingly.

"If you think she can help that's fine. However, I would appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone else about this or about us. Please tell Levy the same. This is between me and Natsu and we will figure it out." With those words he walked out of the infirmary and rejoined his team. They left the guild hall shortly after and headed towards the train station.

Gajeel and Wendy looked at each other.

"Well that went well", Gajeel said sarcastically.

Wendy sighed. "Can you talk to Levy? Please let her know how important it is for her to keep quiet about this."

"I have a really bad feeling about this Gajeel-san. I got the sense that Gray-san does not believe that this magic might be affecting their feelings. We need to talk to Natsu.", Wendy looked at Gajeel worriedly.

Gajeel snorted, "You're welcome to try but I can guarantee that conversation will go nowhere. They're both stubborn idiots. We'll just have to hope that we can sort this out before it becomes a permanent problem for the Salamander."

He gave the young girl a quick hug and went in search of Levy. Wendy left the infirmary and closed the door behind her. Now that she knew for sure that something was not right she was even more troubled than before.


	9. Doubts

Disclaimer: All Fairy Tail Characters Belong to Hiro Mashima

Chapter 9: Doubts

Natsu was making his way back to the guild after finishing his solo mission. Two days had passed since he had left the guild. He cursed at himself. He never did come up with that excuse for Erza, he had forgotten. He had spent most of his spare time trying to figure out this whole mess with Gray.

The closest that Natsu had ever felt to love had been with Lisanna Strauss. When they had taken care of Happy's egg she had made him feel both wanted and needed. He had meant something to her at a time when he felt like he was nothing. For someone who had been abandoned that was really gratifying. Though he did not share her feelings he tried to return them in his own way. Then all too quickly she had died and abandoned him to a deep sadness that had not healed until her unexpected return two years later.

In a way, Gray was much the same. Gray had chosen him to be his rival all those years ago, had given him a place of importance in the ice mage's life that no one else could fill. Natsu had been more than happy to fill that role. He was comfortable being Gray's rival and it was a lot of fun. He enjoyed getting a rise out of the ice mage, enjoyed fighting him until they were both exhausted.

That's why it was all so damn confusing. Ever since they had kissed, whenever he was around the ice mage he felt a need to be by his side. To touch him, to hold him, to kiss him. Bliss coursed through his entire body at every touch and warmed him up inside. It made him happy. He somehow knew this was love and he was determined to pursue it with the single mindedness he pursued anything he wanted.

Had he had any feelings for Gray before the kiss? Now that he had been away from the ice mage for several days he knew that at the very least he had a very strong... fondness. Fondness for the child Gray used to be and for the person he had become. Fondness for all the memories that they shared and a desire to continue being a part of his life always. He knew he would kill to protect him, would die for him if needed.

Were these things also love or were they just deep friendship? He did not know. He wished he could just trust what was developing between them but he couldn't help but think that if this was indeed love he would feel the same for Gray regardless of where he was. This was the part that scared him, made him think that an outside force might be involved. Made him question Gray's feelings for him as well. Was he having similar thoughts now that they were apart?

He felt an urgency to make a decision about whether he wanted to make Gray his mate. He knew that it was rather soon to be thinking this way but then again he didn't need to get to know Gray, didn't neet to court him. He knew just about everything there was to know about the ice mage. However, every time they were alone together he felt overcome by sensations that threatened to take away his control over himself and he did not like that. If he chose the Ice Pervert for his life long mate he wanted it to be a conscious choice. He would never wish to bind Gray to himself if that was not what they both truly wanted. It was really important to him that he get this right. He didn't want to think about what it would mean for him if he made a mistake. Gods, how he missed the days when his fists spoke for him.

He entered the guild quietly, no closer to a decision than when he left, and headed towards the bar to let Mira know that he had completed his mission. He looked around and noticed the guild was mostly empty. He saw Levy glancing nervously at him. She was surrounded by lots of books and she was wearing those glasses that let her read quickly. He smiled and raised his arm in a friendly wave. She nodded at him and went back to her reading. Gajeel was sitting at her table talking with Juvia.

When Juvia noticed him she ran up to him excitedly and asked "Is Gray-sama with you?". She looked behind him as though she expect the ice mage to materialize behind him.

"Uhm no, sorry Juvia. I just returned from a solo mission. I don't know where Gray is.", Natsu replied. The water mage looked at him disinterestedly and went back to her table. He realized then that he had not even given any though to how Juvia would react to the new developments. His head was beginning to hurt and he decided to go home to get some rest.

Erza, Lucy and Gray finally returned from their mission the following evening . Without Natsu it had taken them longer than expected to complete the job request and they were tired and hungry. They looked to be in poor spirits and the girls immediately put distance between themselves and the ice mage.

He knew he had not been a good companion. Knew there should be an apology in his future, but he couldn't help it. Ever since leaving the infirmary it felt like he had been punched in the stomach. Lucy and Erza had both attempted to ask him what Wendy had wanted to talk to him about but he brushed them off. He had not wanted to discuss it with them. Gray did not like the idea that he might be being controlled. He certainly did not want to hurt his friend or force him to make a decision that would irrevocably affect both their lives. He spent as much time as possible analyzing his feelings and actions. He tried his best to do his job but whenever they weren't talking about the mission he would become moody and his thoughts would once again return to his situation. The worst part was that he had not been able to come up with an answer that satisfied him and this made him very short tempered. He really could not blame the girls for steering clear of him as soon as they arrived at the guild.

As soon as Gray entered the guild hall he felt it, that strange pull that alerted him to his love being near. His eyes darted around trying to find him in the loud, busy guild hall. He smiled in relief when he finally spotted him. Natsu's back was towards him and he was talking to Cana near the bar. Gray made his way towards the fire mage. Cana was looking curiously at the expression on Gray's face but he didn't care. He had missed the Flame brain, had even missed his constant complaining on train rides. He had spent the last three days worrying about how Natsu would react when he returned and how he himself would feel when he saw him. Now that the fire mage was near the need to touch him was palpable, he moved quickly. When Gray finally reached him he turned him around and, without thinking about where they happened to be at the moment, kissed him urgently.

Natsu felt the pull of their connection before he even realized Gray was there behind him. He felt his body being turned around and his eyes widened as he realized what Gray was going to do. They were in the guild hall but still he wasn't sure if he wanted to stop it and when he felt demanding lips on his and he felt the familiar bliss travel through his body he could do nothing but respond. When the need for air caused them to separate Natsu smiled radiantly at Gray and said, "Welcome back, Ice Princess!"

"I'm not your princess.", he growled at the fire mage. Both grinned at the familiar exchange and hugged.

The guild went completely silent, except for the loud sound of a tankard shattering on the floor. They both turned towards the sound and that's when they saw Erza looking at them. She had dropped her drink from the shock of what she had just seen. Her eyes were large and panicked and her breathing irregular. She looked like she might be sick any moment.

"H-How long?... How long has this been going on?", she screamed at them. There was an urgency to her voice that they did not understand. And while this was not the response that they had been expecting from her they supposed that they should not be surprised. Erza was like their sister after all, it must be uncomfortable for her to see them like this. Lucy's expression, however, matched Erza's and that hurt a little.

"About a week now.", Natsu answered her honestly, "I thought that you would be happy for us."

Erza looked like she was trying to say something but no words would come out. She grabbed Lucy by the arm and dragged her out of the guild hall quickly. Everyone gaped at the closing door.

"I guess not.", Natsu said sadly and tried to shrug it off.

Once the girls made their exit, sounds began to return to the guild. Everyone was surrounding them wanting to wish them well. Music was blaring and mugs were raised in honor of the new Fairy Tail couple. Cana congratulated them saying "Nice job boys, didn't know you had it in you" and began to buy them drinks. She immediately started asking all manner of inappropriate questions that made them amused but uncomfortable. Elfman, hugged them both and declared their union manly. Mira squealed at them and gave them the response they had expected from Erza and Lucy. Lisanna smiled at Natsu but he could see that it did not reach her eyes. There was a lot of light hearted teasing, along with some clearly uncomfortable looks.

Some of the other reactions were hard for Natsu to interpret. Happy flew over to them and gave them a hug, he uttered his teasing "You liiiiiike each other!" but it was half-hearted at best. Wendy kept looking at them with a sad smile, although she did congratulate them. Gajeel was openly glaring at Gray. Levy looked like she was trying to break some kind of speed reading record but looked up long enough to congratulate them.

They relaxed and stayed by each other's side throughout the evening. Now that they were together again all their doubts evaporated. They enjoyed their nakama's excitement for them and stayed at the guild for a few more hours to celebrate before they made their goodbyes. They had been disappointed by some of their friend's reactions to their new relationship but they tried not to dwell on it. It didn't occur to them that it had all been a little too easy, that there was someone that they were forgetting. They left the hall together hand in hand ready to embrace their new life together. Now that everyone knew what was going on it finally felt real and final.


	10. Lucy and Erza

Disclaimer: All Fairy Tail Characters Belong to Hiro Mashima

Chapter 10: Lucy and Erza

As soon as the guild doors closed behind her, Erza let go of Lucy's arm. She looked at Lucy like she wanted something from her but then she ran off. Lucy wanted to go back inside the guild. She had seen the hurt look on Gray and Natsu's faces when Erza had screamed at them. She knew that her face had probably not looked much better, but she had been shocked. She would of course be happy for them if this was what they truly wanted. They were her friends after all, even if it destroyed some of her own dreams, she would let Natsu go. She only hoped Juvia would do the same.

Lucy stood indecisively for a moment. She had seen Erza's face when she had seen them kiss. She made her decision. The boys were happy at the moment but Erza needed someone now. She went after Erza.

For once Lucy was thankful for Erza's inhuman training regimen as she was able to catch up to her friend without too much effort. She had not noticed that her friend was running towards the train station. Both arrived at the station, slightly winded but Erza did not stop to catch her breath. She went straight to the ticket window and purchased a ticket to Malba City.

Lucy moved to buy herself a ticket as well but Erza stopped her.

"You don't have to come with me. You should return to the guild.", Erza said resolutely.

"Of course I do.", Lucy looked at her friend as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. She purchased her ticket.

"Erza...", Lucy began but was immediately cut off.

"Don't. Not right now.", Erza spat out angrily and sat down on a bench to await the arrival of their train. Lucy sighed sadly and sat next to her. This was going to be difficult, but then again perhaps it should be.

Erza had so many emotions coursing through her at the moment that she did not know which one to tackle first.

"I really have no desire to change the nature of our friendship."

Over and over she heard Gray say this in her head. She tried not to think of him kissing Natsu but her traitorous brain would not let her. Tried not to think of how unnatural it had looked. Lips that traded insults so casually had no business pressing against each other like that. The sharpness of her guilt felt like a slap to her face. For many years now she had been able to defeat just about any enemy that came her way but now that she herself was the enemy she had no idea where to even begin. This was not supposed to be happening. How could she not have noticed what was happening between her two brothers? Was she really that selfish? The second she had not heard their angry voices she had just stopped listening. Had she ever really listened in the first place? She had hurt her nakama, and she had done so willfully. She felt the need for punishment as she remembered thinking about how they would all have a great laugh about it. She had never felt less like laughing.

Erza ceased her thoughts long enough to get on the train. Lucy followed her quietly. She had never seen her friend look so upset.

They spent the train ride in silence. Lucy waiting for any signal from Erza that it was okay to talk about what had happened. Instead, Erza looked as sick as Natsu ever did on transportation. Perhaps it was a way for her body to exact punishment on her for Natsu's sake. She tried to think of something she could say that would be helpful but came up empty. 'A great help I am', she muttered to herself.

Halfway through the ride Loke opened up his gate and looked down at his master.

"Loke, what are you doing here? I didn't call you.", Lucy asked surprised by his sudden appearance.

"I know, I sensed that something was troubling you and I thought you might be in danger. You aren't, are you?", Loke asked in a concerned voice.

"No, we're not. You can go back. Everything is fine.", Lucy said.

Loke looked over at Erza and looked at Lucy again. He sat down next to her instead.

"What's the matter with Erza and where are Gray and the hot head? Are you guys going on a mission?", Loke asked. It didn't take much to realize something was off.

Erza flinched at the mention of the boys names and managed to look even sicker. Loke was getting more concerned by the minute. He had meant to talk to Lucy about Gray but had forgotten.

"Is something wrong with Natsu and Gray? Did Gray's magic give out again?", Loke wanted answers.

"Actually, Natsu and Gray are just fine although I don't particularly want to think about where they might be at the moment.", Lucy laughed mirthlessly. Loke was even more confused than before.

Erza suddenly responded. "Loke, what do you mean did Gray's magic give out again? When did Gray's magic give out?"

Loke let out a curse. Of course, he thought to himself. Why would Gray tell them anything? He had obviously been trying to hide whatever was wrong with him.

"That mission with the bandits. Lucy summoned me and we were fighting some of the bandits with Natsu. When we were done we all headed over to help Erza. Natsu and I bumped into Gray.", Loke told the two mages, "The bandits had discharged their weapons at him but when he tried to mold a shield nothing happened so I tackled him to the ground to keep him from being hit. He somehow knew that Natsu was there and he yelled at him and Natsu apologized and ran off to you. I confronted him about it but he just thanked me and said he had been too slow to react."

The girls slowly digested this. Lucy looked like there was something bothering her but he decided to continue with his story and ask questions later.

"I didn't believe him of course. It just didn't make sense. He kept insisting nothing was wrong and then he looked around for something and molded a hammer to show me nothing was wrong.", Loke continued, "Then we headed over to you and that's when I noticed Natsu look at Gray before he entered the cave. I meant to talk to you about it but I forgot."

"I am so stupid! He wasn't looking for something he was looking for someone. Natsu.", Lucy chided herself as she put the pieces together in her mind.

Loke and Erza looked at her blankly.

"Think about it Erza.", Lucy gently urged her friend, "That whole mission they did not want to be on the same attack team. They were up early planning strategy and team placement. When have they ever done that? It wasn't even a particularly difficult mission. They weren't trying to get along like we thought, they were trying to keep distance from each other."

"And the train station.", she continued thinking out loud, "They didn't complain about the team training until you brought up sparring. I saw their faces, they looked panicked. That's when Gray suggested we train together instead. Come to think of it, they have not had a brawl since that dinner either. They would never be able to go that long, no matter what they promised you. I think somehow they can't fight with or around each other anymore."

She suddenly looked horrified as she realized the implications of what she had just said. Natsu and Gray not being able to fight each other? What kind of torture would that be for them? Her heart broke for them. She suddenly began to understand how they might have ended up where they were now. They would have needed to find something to tie them together, but really a relationship? She would never in a million years have thought Natsu harbored any feelings for his rival.

"I did this, I broke them. I broke us.", Erza said miserably, "This is all my fault."

Once again she heard Gray say "I really have no desire to change the nature of our friendship."

She started sobbing disconsolately. Loke looked at Lucy in confusion.

"What is she talking about, how on Earthland is this her fault?", Loke was getting really angry now. There was something they weren't telling him. Something that affected his friends and he intended to get to the bottom of it.

"Erza, what did you do?", Loke yelled at her.

"Loke, you may return. You may not speak of this to anyone and you may not go to Fairy Tail in my absence.", Lucy said firmly. The last thing she needed was to have him find out what was going on back at the guild. She needed to deal with Erza and Loke was not helping matters.

Loke looked shocked at Lucy's command but tried to ignore her. "No, I need to know what is going on.", Loke answered just as firmly.

"Are you disobeying a direct command from your master?", Lucy glared at him. She understood his need for answers but she needed to get him away from Erza. She hoped he would forgive her later.

Lucy put her arms around Erza and tried to comfort her as best she could. She knew that Erza would not be able to talk for awhile yet. She would let her cry for now. They needed to go back to that store and find that mage Fuyu. She did not think there was enough strawberry cake in the world to ease this pain for her friend. She just hoped they were not too late to set things right.

Loke closed his gate and returned to the celestial world. He wished he could have at least gotten the satisfaction of slamming it shut. The Celestial Lion was furious. Why the hell did Lucy not want him to go to Fairy Tail? He seriously considered going just out of spite but thought better of it. Time passed quickly in the Celestial World. He would find out soon enough. He went off in search of Ares. He needed to calm down.


	11. The Return of Magic

Disclaimer: All Fairy Tail Characters Belong To Hiro Mashima

Chapter 11: The Return of Magic

Natsu opened his eyes and looked at his ceiling. Sunlight had begun to filter through his window and he was feeling warm and cozy. He stretched and decided to get up and face the day. His eyes rested on the figure laying next to him on his hammock and he smiled fondly. He reached over and lovingly patted the figure on the head and when that didn't work started to rub its cute belly.

Happy opened his eyes slowly and blinked at him. "Is it time to get up already, Natsu?"

"It is for me. Gray and I are hiking up Mt. Hakobe today as part of our training. We want to get there early. You are welcome to come with us if you'd like.", Natsu offered. "Did you get home late last night?"

"Yeah. I think I'll go back to sleep if that's ok.", Happy said sleepily.

"That's fine. I'll be back later. Sleep well." , Natsu cuddled his buddy for a few minutes to help him settle back to sleep. He performed all his morning rituals and then exited his house quietly. He had agreed to meet Gray in front of the guild so that they could set off together.

He walked the distance to the guild in silence. He thought back to the previous night and the reactions they had received from some of their friends. He was still hurt by Erza and Lucy's rejection and he wondered if they would see them today. He still had to tell Erza he was quitting the team, although judging from her response she would not be too upset by his departure.

He was a little curious about Wendy and Gajeel's reactions. He could see Wendy being sad that he was not dating a girl but he was sure she would get over it eventually. Wendy was too kind to stay upset with him for long, especially if she knew he was happy. He had no clue what was going on with Gajeel, why would he have been glaring at Gray? Something Juvia related perhaps. Maybe he would make a point of talking to them about it later today. Come to think of it Happy had not looked particularly thrilled either. What was up with everyone? Why couldn't they just be happy for them?

His mind wandered to walking Gray home the previous night. It had felt nice to just walk in the cool night air, holding hands. They had told each other about their missions. Natsu had to agree with Gray that it sounded like he had been a jerk to the girls and probably owed them an apology. Gray congratulated Natsu on not destroying the town on his latest mission. They shared some of the worries that had plagued them while they were apart and felt silly for having them. All too soon they arrived at Gray's apartment. They spent way too long saying goodnight, making up for the days they were apart. Natsu's cheeks reddened as he remembered their good night antics and then he smiled. He could definitely get used to that.

A voice interrupted his thoughts, "Thinking about something good, Dragon Boy?"

Gray was leaning against the door of the still closed guild, one leg propped up against the door with his hands in his pockets.

Natsu looked at him and his face got even redder, "Nah, just thinking about a Pervy Popsicle I know."

"Anyone I know?", Gray smirked at him. He walked away from the building and headed towards the fire mage. He put his arms around him and kissed him good morning. Natsu leaned in to the kiss and gave a happy hum. He finally broke away and started walking.

"Well come on Slowpoke, we have a mountain to climb.", he started the long trek that would take them to Mt. Hakobe. Gray walked next to him and in no time they were talking animatedly and coming up with outrageous challenges for the climb ahead.

As soon as Happy woke up he flew straight to the guild. He hoped Carla or Lily were there, he needed someone to talk to. Happy was very angry with Gray. He just knew that the ice mage had done something to his Natsu and he could tell that Natsu was not aware of it. He flew into the guild and found Wendy and Carla sitting at the counter talking to Mira.

He slumped on the counter.

"Good morning Happy!", they all greeted warmly, "Where's Natsu?"

"He's off to Mt. Hakobe with that jerk.", Happy grumbled.

"Aww, Happy are you jealous of Gray? That's sweet!", Mira smiled at Happy, she gave the little Exceed a hug.

"I'm not jealous of him, he did something to Natsu.", he mumbled. How could he make them understand?

"What do you mean he did something to him?", Wendy asked carefully.

"I mean he did something to Natsu to make Natsu like him.", Happy said forlornly.

"Happy, Natsu is just growing up that's all. He's in love for the first time and he's going to want to spend a lot of time with Gray but that doesn't mean he doesn't have time for you.", Mira tried to cheer the little guy up, "You could do stuff with them. Did he invite you to go with them?"

"You just don't understand!", tears filled Happy's eyes.

"Happy, why don't we go for a walk?. You can tell me what it is you think that Gray-san did, ok?", Wendy said kindly.

Happy sniffled and nodded. "Can we get some yummy fish?", he asked hopefully in a small voice.

"Of course, let's go!", Wendy and Carla led him outside. They stopped by the market to buy Happy some fish and then they found a quiet place to talk.

"Why don't you tell us what's bothering you?", Wendy and Carla waited patiently.

Happy took a deep breath, "Natsu and I went fishing about two weeks ago. We were having a really nice time and I asked him if he thought that...uhm...someone would accept my fish."

Wendy smiled a little at his awkwardness , she was pretty sure she knew who he was talking about.

"Anyway, he said that he wasn't the best person to ask because he didn't have anyone he wanted to give a fish to. Not even a little! Natsu wouldn't lie to me, so then why is he with Gray now? He said that he only gets one mate and that he wasn't in any hurry to find them. He said he wanted to make sure it was the right one and he wanted to make them happy. How could that have changed so quickly? Gray must have found out and wanted to play a trick on Natsu so he'd be alone forever. I hate him!", Happy was sobbing.

"Tomcat, you are beeing foolish!", Carla reprimanded Happy, "Gray would not do that to Natsu."

Wendy sighed. So she had been right, Natsu had not been interested in Gray before. She held the little Exceed and let him get his tears out. She was touched by his concern for Natsu's happiness.

"Happy, Carla is right. Gray-san would never play such a mean trick on Natsu-san. I know it's hard for you to understand. They may fight a lot but neither would purposefully hurt the other.", Wendy told him. She continued holding him until he had calmed down. They started talking about other things until they felt Happy had cheered up enough to return to the guild.

By the time they made it back more and more members were returning from missions. The place was starting to get lively. Happy looked around for Natsu but it seemed he had not returned yet. He flew around looking for someone to hang out with but Erza, Lucy, Natsu and the jerk were all absent. He wasn't sure where to go. He caught a glimpse of Lisanna and went to join her.

Wendy made her way to Gajeel and Levy and sat down. Carla and Lily flew up to the second floor.

"I just talked to Happy, Natsu-san had definitely not had any interest in Gray-san before that scent showed up.", she informed them quietly, "Levy-san have you had any luck finding anything in your books?"

Levy shook her head in frustration. "I'm sorry, I haven't found anything helpful yet but I will keep trying." She had looked in every book she could think of but honestly she did not even know what she was looking for. How on Earthland do you look for an overpowering scent in books?

Gajeel growled, "I can't believe the nerve of that Fullbuster, he knows full well what's on the line here."

"He can't help it Gajeel-san. He is as much a victim of this as Natsu-san.", Wendy pointed out.

"Maybe, but at the end of the day he can walk away, Salamander might not be able to.", Gajeel got up and ordered himself a drink.

"I'll try to talk to Natsu-san about it.", Wendy told Gajeel.

"Make sure he's alone when you do.", Gajeel warned Wendy.

A few minutes later the doors swung open loudly and in walked Natsu and Gray. They had returned from their mountain climb in good spirits but starving. They headed straight to the counter to order some food. They stood around talking to Cana, Macao and Wakaba while they waited. Before long they were joined by Juvia.

"Gray-sama, you're back! Juvia missed you so much.", Juvia immediately tried to put her arms around the ice mage. Natsu tensed up beside his boyfriend but otherwise let him handle the water mage. Gray was perfectly capable of handling his own battles. Gray easily dodged her advances and kept himself at a distance.

"Hey Juvia, welcome back.", he had learned to say as little as possible to the water mage. She was nice but she had an annoying habit of taking his words and creating ridiculous fantasies around them each more embarassing than the next. He turned back towards Natsu who was giving him an amused look. The ice mage grabbed his boyfriend's hand and led him towards a table. They were already discussing plans for that evening when Juvia returned.

"Natsu, why don't you go find Love Rival? Juvia would like to spend some time with her boyfriend.", Juvia said aggressively. She did not like being ignored by the ice-mage.

"I am not your boyfriend Juvia. I have told you that many times now. I am flattered that you think so highly of me, but I just don't see you that way.", Gray tried to be forceful. Not that it mattered, she never listened to him. "Natsu and I are having dinner, we're just waiting for our food."

"But he is being selfish, he has had you to himself all day! Juvia just wants to spend some time with her Gray-sama.", Juvia whined.

"That may well be but it doesn't change the fact that I am already having dinner with him.", Gray told her cooly. He was starting to get annoyed, why couldn't she just accept that he was not going to change his mind. Ever.

Mira finally came by with their food and they thanked her. As they went to sit at their table Mira said "I think you should talk to Happy. He was really upset this afternoon. I think he is jealous of you Gray!". She chuckled and went back to her counter. Cana had been watching the exchange and she was getting seriously fed up with the water mage's antics. She walked over to their table.

Juvia sat herself next to Gray. "Why would Happy be jealous of you, Gray-sama?", Juvia asked getting as close to the ice mage as he would allow. Cana sat down on the other side of Gray, drink in hand. She put her arm around Gray's shoulders, looked at Juvia and said excitedly "That's right, you weren't here for the big show last night!"

"Oh? What show was that?" Juvia tried to feign interest.

"Gray kissing Natsu. I'm sure you would have enjoyed it. I bet you if you ask nicely they might even do it again.", Cana winked at Juvia.

"Cana!", Gray hissed at her.

"What, it's the truth!", Cana gave Gray an innocent look, "I think you two make an excellent couple." Natsu was surprised by that and smiled at her gratefully. He glanced at Juvia, he had been willing to let Gray handle it but he was starting to lose his patience. Even though Juvia's behavior was nothing new, it now bothered him more than it used to.

"Gray-sama, tell me it's not true", Juvia pleaded.

"I'm sorry, Juvia I can't do that. Natsu and I are together.", Gray told her firmly.

"But you can't be! Juvia is the one who loves you. Juvia is the one who would do anything for you. All he does is hit you and make you angry.", Juvia cried desperately.

"Not anymore.", Gray said truthfully, "So we would really appreciate it if you would respect us and just let us enjoy our dinner date."

Juvia got up slowly and walked away disbelievingly. Part of her thought that it was some sort of involved prank they were playing on her. She headed towards where Gajeel was sitting. Gajeel would set her straight. Cana headed to the bar feeling quite satisfied with herself. Another drink was definitely in order.

Natsu and Gray finished the rest of their meal peacefully and decided to go home. Now that they had eaten they could feel how tired they were from their climb. They decided to skip training the following day and sleep in. They were walking hand in hand again when Juvia came up to Natsu, a furious expression on her face.

"You, how could you take him away from me.", she spat at Natsu.

"He was never yours, Juvia.", Natsu replied as calmly as he could. She was still part of his guild, he needed to keep himself in control.

Suddenly, she came at him all water and fury. Gray tried to get in front of him and cast and ICE MAKE SHIELD.

Natsu shoved him out of the way even as the shield was forming in front of him. "Idiot, I don't need you to protect me!"

His fists were on fire and he was ready to fight the water mage if that is what she really wanted. He readied an attack and... wait, his fists were on fire. He looked at them and grinned stupidly. He glanced at Gray doing the same thing next to him while looking at his shield. They forgot all about Juvia and immediately tried to punch each other. Once they were able to make contact they hugged each other happily and then ran over to hug Juvia, who looked angry and very confused.

Everyone in the guild was staring at them open mouthed and confused for the second night in a row. All their tiredness forgotten they ran outside insults, fists, and magics at the ready and had themselves a massive brawl for the first time in two weeks. They were back to normal.


	12. This Potion Should Have a Warning Label

Disclaimer: All Fairy Tail Characters Belong to Hiro Mashima

Chapter 12: This Potion Should Have a Warning Label

Lucy and Erza arrived in Malba City in the late evening. They made their way back to the inn where they had stayed on their last visit and checked into a room. Erza had calmed down somewhat but was still not talking very much. They entered their room and Erza went into the bathroom to take a shower. As soon as she was done she requipped into some pajamas and lay down on her bed facing the wall.

Lucy decided to wait until morning to try to force her to talk. She hoped that having a plan they could execute in the morning would help bring her friend back to herself. She was not used to seeing Erza this way and it was very unsettling. She once again thought regretfully about how she had behaved with Loke and hoped that she could repair the damage she had done. She knew he was furious. Loke and Gray had been very good friends before she had joined Fairy Tail and she knew from experience how loyal the celesetial spirit was to his friends. That's why she had sent him away before he could find out what she and Erza had done. She hoped with all her heart that when this situation was resolved they could all still be friends.

As soon as the sun came out Erza was ready to head to the magic shop where she had purchased the potion. Lucy tried to persuade her that it would not be open yet but Erza insisted on standing guard in case Fuyu happened by. She needed to feel like she was doing something. Lucy let her go and promised to meet her later.

Erza immediately left the inn and quickly reached her destination. She stood outside and observed her surroundings, willing the mage she was looking for to appear before her. She did not know what she was hoping for exactly. Even if she found something to counteract the effects of the potion she would have to tell Natsu and Gray what she had done. There was no way around that. She had always meant to tell them but she had never expected the effects to be so severe. She thought back to all the years they had spent together, all the memories they had created for themselves and her soul ached.

She didn't know how close Natsu and Gray had become in the last two weeks but she knew it would be almost impossible for them to go back to the way they were. It would be painful and uncomfortable, probably embarassing as well. She had also probably destroyed the team. There was no way they would trust her to fight by their side. Once the rest of the guild found out they would not trust her either. She would have to go back to doing S-Class missions, which were fun but lonely. Who was she kidding?, she would probably be kicked out of the guild. She was instantly disgusted with herself for thinking about how her actions would affect her. It didn't matter what the consequences were, she would accept them.

Lucy arrived with food she had picked up from a nearby bakery. She tried to get Erza to eat something but she refused.

"Erza, you have to eat. You're not going to change anything by denying yourself food. You will need your strength to get to the bottom of this.", Lucy told Erza simply.

"I should have listened to you. You tried to warn me that it was not a situation that could be solved by magic. I'm sorry.", Erza said stiffly. She grudgingly accepted the food and ate it but she did not allow herself to enjoy it. The shop finally opened it's doors and Erza rushed inside.

She was in full interrogation mode. She grabbed the first employee that she encountered by the collar and yelled, "I am looking for a mage named Fuyu, have you seen him?"

The poor employee was terrified, all he could do was shake his head at her.

"Is there anyone here who would know where I could find him?", she yelled at him again.

The poor man was shaking at this point, he raised a jittery arm and pointed to a part of the shop that they had not noticed the last time they were there. Erza let the man go and immediately headed in that direction. Lucy stopped to apologize to the employee before she followed Erza.

Erza entered the new area and looked around. On the wall was a board filled with job requests just like at the Fairy Tail guild hall. She was intrigued and as there was no one to interrogate at the moment she read some of them. Lucy joined her.

"Hello, can I help you? Are you interested in taking a job?", a voice asked behind them.

Erza turned and headed menacingly towards the man who had spoken to them. Lucy quickly put her hand on Erza's arm and said, "Let me handle this."

Erza did not look convinced but decided to let the Celestial Mage talk to the man. She admitted to herself that perhaps she was a bit too worked up to be effective, she could always take over if they didn't get the information they needed.

"What is this place?", Lucy asked.

The man noticed Lucy's guild mark and smiled. "Oh, I see you are from Fairy Tail. Welcome to our Request Center."

"Request Center?", Erza inquired.

"Yes, you see we ofen take requests or quests that the official guilds are not interested in. The Request Center is a place for independent mages, mages that are not interested in joining a guild, to be able to find paying jobs. Mages who have recently left Dark Guilds also use our services. Once they accept a job we keep track of it here, almost like a regular guild except that they owe us no allegiance. All our shops include an area like this. However, you are not here for a job request so, how can I help you?", the man answered with a smile.

"We are looking for a mage we met here a few weeks ago. He goes by the name of Fuyu. The employee out front told us you might be able to help us find him.", Lucy gave the man her best smile.

"You're looking for Fuyu? He took a job request two days ago, he probably won't be back until tomorrow.", he told them.

"Can you tell us where he is?", Erza asked eagerly.

"I'm sorry, I can't do that. If you leave me your information I can ask him to get in touch with you when he returns. That's the best I can do.", he said firmly.

Erza looked like she wanted to argue but Lucy wrote down the information for the inn they were staying at and handed it over.

"Please tell him that it is very important that he get in touch with us right away.", Lucy told the man very seriously. He promised he would.

There was nothing left to do but leave the store and wait to be contacted by the mage. They walked around the city until they found a park. They sat down and people watched for awhile.

"Erza, I know that you are very angry with yourself right now but please remember.", Lucy said softly, "you did not mean for this to happen."

"I didn't care what would happen, I just wanted them to stop fighting. I didn't give any thought to what they would want.", Erza said disgustedly, "I never thought about how confused they would be or what it would do to them."

"Through all of it they tried to work together, tried to keep the team together and they didn't tell a single soul what was happening. They worked through it all admirably and what did I do?", Erza asked of no one in particular.

"I left them alone to deal with it while hiding a secret smile at how well my damn plan was working. I even went so far as to give them more of the potion than was required. I am despicable. I am not even worthy of asking for their forgiveness.", she said miserably.

"Erza, they are Fairy Tail wizards. Our nakama always comes first, they will forgive you eventually.", Lucy tried to console the requip mage.

"Will they? How do you think they will react when they find out that their romantic relationship is not real? We have only seen them kissing but they looked quite comfortable. Do you honestly think they have not done other things? How will they even be able to look at each other after that?", Erza spat out.

"Erza, this is as much my fault as it is yours. I could have stopped you. I could have warned them or told them. We'll face the consequences together.", Lucy said sadly, tears streaming down her face. After hearing Erza's words she had begun to realize that things were much worse than she had thought.

"No, Lucy. I appreciate what you are trying to do but you tried to stop me every step of the way. This is my sin, once I have confessed, I will atone for it. I just hope we can fix things."

They went back to the hotel to wait for Fuyu. They spent most of the time waiting in the inn's lobby. Erza refused to talk any more about their situation until they had talked to the mage. They filled their time with pointless chatter that neither could keep up for very long, but the silence was even worse.

The following morning they were awoken by a knock on the door. Erza answered the door cautiosly. The manager of the inn was on the other side.

"I apologize for waking you, there is a man waiting for you downstairs. He said that you requested his presence.", the manager informed her.

Erza thanked the manager and asked him to please let the man know that they would be right down. The manager agreed and went to relay the message. Erza woke up Lucy and they quickly dressed and made their way downstairs. Fuyu was waiting in the lobby. They made their way towards a sitting area.

"Hello Titania. I did not expect to see you again.", Fuyu greeted her, "Why did you request to see me?" He nodded at Lucy in greeting.

"I need to ask you some questions about the potion I bought from you.", Erza tried to not show her emotions. She did not want to scare the man away before she got the information that she needed.

"Oh, are you not satisfied? I am afraid I can't give you your money back.", Fuyu said nervously.

"No, I just need to understand the effects better. You had said that the potion would level out their aggression. What did you mean by that? Is it normal for them to not be able to fight each other physically or even magically?", Erza asked.

"Oh, they're mages? You didn't tell me that. Yes, that would be a nasty side effect for them. The potion is supposed to help them find each other's company pleasant. The way it does that is by controlling their aggression towards the other and making them feel happy whenever they are together. This causes them to want to spend more time together.", Fuyu replied helpfully, "I hope they did not go on any jobs together, it could be dangerous. I'm not sure what the area of effect would be but certainly in a fight their magic would not be released."

"How long will the potion affect them?", Erza asked cautiously.

"If you administered it correctly, the effects should last for one week.", Fuyu said confidently.

"What if I didn't?", Erza asked looking down at the floor, "What if I gave them two drops instead?"

Erza heard Fuyu's sharp intake of breath and waited for the worst.

"That potion is very rare. I only sold it to you because I trusted your reputation. ", Fuyu said accusingly.

"Please just tell us.", Lucy pleaded.

Fuyu sighed, "The fighting issue should resolve itself in two weeks. That's not the problem."

"You seem to have forgotten the main effect of this potion. It tampers with people's emotions. All the potion masters I have talked to claim that it is impossible to make potions that create feelings, but there are all kinds of magic out there and some are older and crueler than others. Those magics and the mages who wielded them had no problem manipulating people's emotions to cater to their whims. This potion was created by one of those.", Fuyu told them sadly, "Had you given them each one drop as I instructed the effect would have also lasted a week. Are your friends powerful mages?"

Lucy and Erza both nodded hopefully.

"I wish I could give you better news. That actually makes it worse. Doubling the dosage is enough for the potion to attach itself to their magic containers permanently. The stronger the magic feeding it the stronger the effect on the host's emotions. Since it is attracted to the potion contained in the other the hosts will continue to seek each other out, indefinitely.", Fuyu said.

"Would it create a romantic relationship where there was not one before?", Erza asked.

"There' s no way to know that for sure. It would strengthen whatever feelings already existed between them. You really should have followed the instructions.", Fuyu stood up to leave.

"Is there really no way to counteract the effects?", Lucy asked hopefully.

"None that I am aware of. I'm sorry, I wish I could have been more helpful to you." , he walked away, head hung low.

Erza and Lucy stood frozen in the lobby of the inn not quite believing what they had just heard. This was so much worse than they had feared. Not only would Natsu and Gray never know for certain whether their feelings for each other were real but they would continue to be drawn to each other for the rest of their lives. It certainly could not get much worse than that. They checked out of the inn and walked to the train station. It was time to return to Magnolia and face the consequences.


	13. The Dragon Makes a Choice

Disclaimer: All Fairy Tail Characters Belong to Hiro Mashima

Chapter 13: The Dragon Makes a Choice

Natsu opened his eyes slowly and found himself in an unfamiliar room. He was not in his usual hammock but on a large bed and laying next to him was none other than the Ice Princess himself, Gray Fullbuster.

Gray was still asleep. He looked very peaceful, his chest rising and falling slowly with each breath. Natsu very gently ran his fingers through the ice mage's dark hair, enjoying the unexpected softness of it. Gray stirred, but did not wake up. He watched his love sleep and his heart was full. Their magic was back to normal and his feelings for his Ice Princess had not changed. In this moment, Natsu was truly happy.

He couldn't remember when he had started thinking of the Ice Block as his love but it did not matter. He had made his decision, he wanted to make Gray his mate. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with this amazing person and do everything in his power to make him happy. Having made the most important decision of his young life, Natsu snuggled up to his love and let the sound of Gray's even breathing lull him to sleep.

Gray woke up in a tangle of limbs and was amused to see that even in his sleep Natsu was unruly. He had been surprised that the Flame Brain had agreed to stay the night. Not that anything had happened, they were both so exhausted from the long day that they had fallen asleep immediately. However, Natsu had always made it a point to return to his own home at the end of the day. Gray was sure that it had to do with the whole mate issue. He couldn't fault him for that but he wondered if that meant that the dragon slayer had made his decision. He hoped so, he would like nothing more than to spend the rest of his life with Natsu by his side, as equals.

Wendy had made up her mind to talk to Natsu-san today. She was glad to see that their magic was back to normal but until she had scent confirmation she could not let herself believe that their problem was resolved. She had this feeling that they were running out of time. She headed over to his house so that she could catch him before he headed to the guild. She knocked on his door and waited but no one answered. She knocked louder and this time Happy came to the door.

"Oh hi Wendy! What are you doing here?", Happy looked at her groggily.

"Hi Happy, Is Natsu-san here?, I need to talk to him.", Wendy replied trying to hide the urgency she was feeling.

"No, Natsu never came home last night. Are you going to the guild? I'll come with you.", Happy said as he locked the door behind him.

Wendy had been planning on searching for Natsu-san but she didn't have the heart to say no to Happy. She led him towards the guild.

"Does Natsu-san not come home often?", Wendy asked curiously.

"No, this would be the first time. Usually if he sneaks into Lucy's I go with him.", Happy replied glumly.

Well, that's just great. Wendy wanted to cry in frustration. Her need to find him increased ten-fold but she did not know where Gray-san lived. They finally arrived at the guild hall and sat down for breakfast. Her best bet was to stick around the guild and wait for the two mages to show up.

"Has anyone seen Erza or Lucy? They haven't been around in the last few days.", Mira asked the guild hall.

"Now that you mention it, no I haven't. They ran out the the other night and I haven't seen them since. They seemed pretty upset.", Wakaba answered tendrils of smoke rising from his ever present pipe.

"Yeah, it's been so exciting here lately I forgot all about them. I wonder where they went off to. I have to admit Erza's reaction to Natsu and Gray was not what I expected", Macao replied thoughtfully.

"No it wasn't. ", Cana joined the conversation, "That girl loves her yaoi."

Mira giggled in agreement. "Do you think Lucy will be ok?"

"Why wouldn't she be?", Wendy asked.

"Wendy, you are too cute sometimes!", Mira looked at Wendy fondly, "Lucy obviously has a huge crush on Natsu."

"Do you think Natsu liked her back?", Wendy asked seriously.

"Honestly?", Mira thought for a moment before continuing, "I didn't think he liked anybody, at least not in the guild. A few years ago I thought maybe he liked Lisanna, but that was before she... He doesn't look at her the same anymore. I was completely floored to find out he likes Gray and that Gray likes him back."

"I'll say it again, I think Natsu and Gray make an excellent couple. They'll never be boring that's for sure.", Cana smirked into her drink.

"Did you just say that Natsu and Gray are a couple? Those two knuckleheads?", Makarov looked at them disbelievingly, "Are you sure they're not just pulling your leg?"

"Hello, Master. Welcome back!", Mira greeted cheerfully, "They are indeed together. How was your meeting with the council?"

"Clearly not as interesting at things here.", Makarov replied, "What else has happened in my absence?"

With that the conversation ended as Mira caught the Master up on guild business. Wendy thought very hard about whether she wanted to tell Master Makarov about her suspicions. She knew that the Master was kind and he would listen to her, but he was also busy and she needed scent confirmation. Where the heck where those two?

Ever since Natsu had finally woken up he had been acting strangely and Gray did not know what to make of it. He had almost jumped out of the bed when he saw Gray next to him. He had not wanted to go to the guild right away. He had made a point of asking Gray out to breakfast, offering to take him to his favorite place. Once they had gotten there though, he had not said a single word. Just stared at him through the entire meal. Now they were walking around town hand in hand with no clear destination with Natsu leading them towards South Gate Park. It began to dawn on him that the Flame Brain was nervous about something. That made him nervous as hell.

Natsu led them to an empty part of the park near the large Rainbow Sakura Tree and sat down. He motioned for Gray to sit facing him.

"Oi Squinty Eyes, are you ok?", Gray asked nervously, "You've been acting oddly all morning."

Natsu smiled. He supposed he had been acting strangely. Now that he had decided to make Gray his mate he did not want to wait any longer. He had been trying to think of how to go about bringing up the topic. He had thought about all of the things that he had heard the girls say they liked but Gray was not a girl. He couldn't exactly get him flowers, although he almost bought some off a vendor just to get a reaction.

He settled on taking Gray out for a breakfast date and a walk around the town but it all sort of felt like stalling. He felt the cafe Gray had chosen was too public to say anything at breakfast. He decided to come to the park, which he hoped would be romantic.

"There's a reason for that.", he scratched the back of his head nervously. He took a deep breath.

Gray looked at him expectantly, one eyebrow raised.

Natsu looked into Gray's eyes intently and put his hand behind the ice mage's head. He gently pulled Gray's head towards his and leaned in for a kiss. That familiar feeling of bliss came upon him the moment his lips touched Gray's and he welcomed it as he deepened his kiss. Gray responded with little moans while Natsu reveled in Gray's taste. He allowed himself to become overwhelmed by Gray's scent. Much too soon for Gray's liking, Natsu pulled away. His face was flushed, his heart racing. Gray stared at him, his face equally flushed.

"You have my attention.", Gray deadpanned.

Natsu smiled at him.

"I'm not really good with words or emotions but here goes. Gray, the last two weeks have certainly been the strangest that I can remember. I have felt a great many things that I had never felt before. Things that, in all honesty, I had not been looking for at this time.", Natsu began, "But if I am honest with myself, ever since we kissed for the first time I have felt drawn to you in a way I can't explain. I have really enjoyed all the time we have spent together and I would like nothing better than to continue like this forever."

" My one concern was that it was pretty obvious we were being affected by something.", Natsu continued, "So I made myself a promise that I would not make a decision about our future until that was resolved. I wanted that decision to be a conscious one. When our magic returned to normal last night I was worried that it would somehow change how I feel about you."

"When I woke up this morning next to you I knew that wasn't the case. If anything, my feelings were even stronger because I felt whole again. We could once again truly be us, together. So this is me, Natsu Dragneel, making a conscious decision to make you, Gray Fullbuster, my lifelong mate. If you'll have me of course.", Natsu finished nervously. He looked at Gray anxiously and waited for an answer.

Gray just looked at him with his mouth gaped open. Not good with words? Holy crap! He wanted to be rational about this, he knew how important this was to Natsu. If he agreed to this there would be no turning back. He remembered Wendy's words and he wanted to do the right thing. He started to speak.

'Seriously where the heck are these guys?' Wendy asked herself for the hundredth time that day. She had been waiting at the guild for hours. Gajeel shared her jumpiness. She had told him about Natu-san not returning home the previous night. Both of their eyes moved towards the guild hall doors anytime they opened. Gajeel openly glaring at whoever it was.

Lucy and Erza left the train station and slowly headed back to the guild. Not a word had been spoken between them since they had left the inn. Every step that led them closer to the guild served to increase their anxiousness to an unhealthy degree. Soon, they were standing in front of the doors. Erza took a deep breath and pushed the door open with Lucy following behind.

They were greeted by a pair of glaring red eyes and the voice they belonged to said "Well look who finally decided to come back home."


	14. The Truth Hurts

Disclaimer: All Fairy Tail Characters Belong to Hiro Mashima

Chapter 14: The Truth Hurts

Erza stopped a moment to consider Gajeel's words and nodded. She continued walking towards the bar and sat near Cana. She ordered her favorite stout and sat down. Mira brought her her drink and they began to talk in quiet voices.

Lucy thought about sitting with Erza but decided against it. Erza probably wanted to be by herself for awhile. She headed towards Levy instead.

"Lu-chan, you're back!'. Levy greeted her warmly, "Where did you two go anyway?"

"We went to Malba City.", Lucy replied.

"Malba City? Why did you go there?", Levy asked her friend curiously.

"There was just a magic shop we wanted to visit.", Lucy answered.

"Lucy, you're back!", a very excited Happy flew into her arms.

"Hey Happy!", Lucy said warmly, she absently patted the eager Exceed behind his ears. She wanted to ask where Natsu was but she didn't feel she had the right.

"I said, drop it Mira, I don't want to talk about it right now!", Erza's annoyed voice reverberated around the guild hall, her tankard slamming on the counter.

All conversations stopped as everyone looked to the bar. Mira walked away from Erza, her feelings clearly hurt. Erza glared at everyone daring them to come near her. No one was crazy enough to do so. After awhile conversations started up again.

"What was that about?", Happy asked Lucy.

Lucy could only shrug in pretend amazement.

When Natsu and Gray finally arrived at the guild the tension in the air was palpable. They could feel it but had no idea what had happened to cause it. They looked around questioningly but could find no obvious answer so they chose to ignore it. They were in their own world at the moment.

Natsu went over to the bar to order some drinks. They were celebrating after all. That's when he noticed Erza. That's also when Erza noticed the object wrapped around Gray's neck. Erza once again looked sick. Natsu and Gray ignored her and gave Mira their drink order. They were not going to let her ruin their mood. They moved to a table and waited for Mira to bring their drinks.

As soon as Mira noticed Gray, she squealed in excitement. Gray was wearing Natsu's scarf around his neck.

"Does that mean something? Please tell me it means something!", Mira was almost jumping with excitement. Her loud squeals had brought everyone's attention to their table.

"It means the Ice Princess has agreed to be my mate.", Natsu said proudly. Gray rolled his eyes at the nickname.

"I swear if you don't come up with a better nickname, I'll take it back.", Gray grumbled at his would be mate.

"Sorry, too late for takebacks!", Natsu said gleefully, sticking his tongue out at Gray. Gray tried to catch the fire mage's tongue with his fingers.

Wendy and Gajeel made their way to the table. They wanted to be happy for their fellow dragon slayer, but both of them had only one thing on their minds. Before they could offer congratulations they needed to make sure that that overwhelming scent was no longer on their friends. As soon as they were close enough both dragon slayers discreetly sniffed the air surrounding Natsu and Gray and their faces fell. Their friend's scents were completely gone, the only scent left was the strange one. Wendy tried to hold back her tears. Gajeel looked at her and shook his head.

"Salamander, I guess congratulations are in order. Did you already do the ritual?". Gajeel asked Natsu.

"What? NO. Not yet, I just asked him to be my mate and he said yes.", Natsu clarified.

Wendy and Gajeel relaxed considerably. Perhaps there was still time to fix this mess. They needed to talk to Natsu-san.

"Natsu-san, can I talk to -" Wendy started when she was interrupted.

"ENOUGH!.", Erza screamed.

Lucy was quickly at her side to try to calm her down. Makarov came out of his office after hearing Erza yell for a second time.

"What is going on here?", Makarov yelled from the second floor. When no answers were forthcoming he went downstairs.

"NONE of this is real.", Erza stared at Natsu and Gray.

"Look Erza, I get that you don't approve of us. You made that amply clear the other day, but that doesn't give you the right to say our relationship isn't real. Especially when you ran away from us like a coward.", Natsu looked angry and hurt all at the same time.

Erza turned to Lucy, "Lucy, please summon Loke." Lucy nodded slowly. She grabbed Loke's key and yelled "OPEN, GATE OF THE LION! LEO!"

Loke appeared in front of her. "Master, How can I be of service?", he said coldly. His anger was still evident. He glared at both Erza and Lucy.

Lucy looked down at the floor sadly and did not answer. She knew she deserved that. She wanted to apologize but considering what was coming next decided it was pointless.

Battle lines drawn, Loke sat with Natsu and Gray, clearly choosing their side. He raised an eyebrow at Gray when he saw him wearing Natsu's scarf. Gray shook his head at him, letting him know this wasn't the time. He was getting a bad feeling and he grabbed Natsu's hand and held it in his.

Makarov watched all this and pinched the bridge of his nose. He really should have stayed away longer. What did his brats get into this time?

"Alright Erza, since you seem to know what is going on why don't you start talking.", Makarov's eyes bore into the requip mage.

Erza nodded. She opened her mouth but no words would come out. She took a deep breath and requipped into her white ruffled shirt and blue skirt. She didn't deserve the protection of her armor when she herself had not offered protection to her friends. She had been hoping for a smaller audience but the Master had chosen the venue and she could no longer argue. It was time to confess her sin.

She focused her gaze on Makarov and started her story, her voice low in the beginning but gaining strength as she went on:

"Our team was doing a job in Malba City. We were hired to take out a Dark Guild. Lucy had been injured so she had to stay at the inn. Natsu, Gray and I set out to the location where we were going to engage the members of the guild. We were making progress when the master of the guild tried to escape. I chased after him and left Natsu and Gray to take out the remaining members."

Natsu and Gray were looking at each other in confusion. What the heck did this have to do with anything?

"In the course of doing so they ended up fighting amongst themselves. They were causing quite a bit of destruction and the guild members got away. When I was returning to their location I encountered one of the guild members and apprehended him for the authorities. He informed me of what had happened."

Master Makarov switched his gaze to glare at the two boys "We will talk about that later." They nodded and looked at him apologetically.

To Erza he said, "Continue."

"I went to reprimand Natsu and Gray and they ended up getting into yet another fight. At that point I kind of lost control and asked them to get out of my sight. I then went to meet up with Lucy at the inn and we walked around the town. We found a magic shop and decided to explore it."

Erza looked at Lucy with a panicked expression. Lucy held out her hand, trying to give her some comfort. Erza refused it. She steeled herself and continued in a wooden voice. Natsu, Loke and Gray tensed up. They sensed that this part was important. Gray squeezed Natsu's hand.

"While at the shop I was complaining to Lucy that I wished that there was something that would help Natsu and Gray like each other long enough so they could resolve their issues and get along better. That's when a mage offered to sell me a potion that would do just that. It would control their aggression and make them like each other long enough to become better friends."

"HOW MUCH?", Natsu was furious. He let go of Gray's hand.

"W-What?", asked Erza

" How..Much..Did..You..Pay?", Natsu enunciated every word with venom.

Gray tried to put his arm around him but Natsu's body was too hot for him to touch. Loke shook his head at him.

"50,000 Jewel.", she replied in a small voice.

"I take it there's more?", Makarov asked in a neutral tone.

"I bought it and made plans to have a team dinner that evening. Natsu and Gray apologized for what happened and were on their best behavior but I wasn't satisfied so I..."

Tears started streaming down her face as she continued, trying her best to keep her voice level.

"I goaded them into a fight so that I would have an excuse to use the potion on them. I sent them outside to calm down and Lucy tried to stop me but I wouldn't be deterred. I... I put a double dose of the potion into their drinks and watched them drink it."

She started sobbing but only Lucy was there to comfort her. The guild hall was deadly quiet.

Natsu's entire body was on fire at this point. He got up and told Gray he would talk to him later. He could not listen to anymore. He walked to the exit and slammed the door behind him.

Erza collapsed on the floor in wracking sobs calling out Natsu's name. Gray was looking at her coldly. Loke was barely containing his fury at her betrayal. He was looking at Lucy with an unreadable expression and she shied away from him. Erza calmed herself down enough to continue confessing her sin.

"I-I didn't see any of the effects, I was just happy that they were getting along and things were peaceful. I didn't realize anything else was going on until I saw them kiss. Lucy and I went back to Malba City to search for the mage who sold me the potion. It was on the train that Lucy and Loke figured out that they were not able to fight or use their magic near each other."

"Leave me out of this. I had nothing to do with what you did.", Loke said in a cold rage.

"How long does the potion last?", Gray asked her.

"If I had given you a single dose it would have lasted a week, but since I gave you a double dose..."

She stopped there. She was done, she could not say anymore. She finally looked at Lucy for help, hating herself for her weakness. Gray was her oldest friend and he had the right to hear it from her but she couldn't get the words out.

"So, two weeks?", he was okay with that number. That number did not change anything, mostly.

It was Lucy's turn to take a deep breath.

"The effects on your aggresion lasted two weeks. You should be back to normal now. The other effects of the potion have bonded with your magical containers. Permanently."

"What other effects?", Loke demanded. Gray had sunk into his seat his fingers playing with Natsu's scarf.

Wendy looked at him sadly. She understood now. That strange scent was always the potion. The more it attached itself to their containers the stronger it became.

She sat down next to Gray and wrapped her arms around him. She shivered, his body was very cold, but she held on to him anyway. He controlled his temperature allowing her to comfort him. He looked like he had lost all his friends and in a way she guessed he had. Happy flew over and settled himself protectively on the ice mage's head. Gajeel stood protectively near. Both dragon slayers were recognizing their fellow dragon slayer's mate and trying to protect him in their own way.

"The potion strengthens whatever feelings already existed between them. It will continue to feed off their magic and affect their emotions towards the other. Since they are both powerful mages, those emotions will be very strong.", Lucy finished.

"So if it just strengthens existing feelings, doesn't that mean that there were feelings already there?", asked Levy.

"Since it tampers with emotions there's no real way to know for sure.", Lucy answered softly.

"I'm so sorry.", Lucy said to no one in particular.

There were so many emotions coursing through Gray that he was having trouble focusing on one.

"You're sorry?", Gray asked incredulously, "That's all you have to say for yourself? You're sorry? How dare you?"

"Gray, she didn't do anything. I'm the one who you have to be angry with.", Erza started

"Oh trust me, I've got enough anger to go around. But you're right, she didn't do anything.", Gray looked at Lucy in righteous anger, "How many times did you sit with us, talk to us, pretend to be our friend? You knew, this whole time, and you didn't say anything. Do you have any idea what it was like for us? Not knowing what was wrong with us. Having the entire basis of our relationship taken away from us. Do you know how many hours we trained trying to figure out the effects so that we could stay on the team? We had to go through all of that because our bickering was inconvenient for you?"

Lucy bowed her head. She knew that he was right but it hurt to hear just the same.

"Do you know that Natsu was quitting the team because of what happened on that bandit job? He felt so guilty about what could have happened to me if Loke hadn't been there. He was willing to give up something he loved to protect others. He was so worried over disappointing Erza. You both make me sick!"

"And, now", he looked down at his scarf, "now he will probably do the same thing again.", he said softly.

"I have to go. Come on Happy."

Gray and Happy walked out of the guild hall and slammed the door behind them. This was by no means over but he had a pink haired idiot to find.


	15. Betrayal and Consequences

Disclaimer: All Fairy Tail Characters Belong to Hiro Mashima

Chapter 15: Betrayal and Consequences

The guild doors slammed shut behind Gray and Happy's retreating figures. Inside the guild the only sounds that could be heard were Erza's sobs and Lucy's sniffles.

The members of the Fairy Tail guild were all at a loss. They had no idea how to respond to what they had just heard. They were not used to fighting enemies from within. They looked at each other searching for a clue as to how to feel about this betrayal from one of the most unexpected sources in all of Fairy Tail.

Makarov stood frozen in place. He was having a hard time accepting what he had just heard.

Strong, incorruptible, righteous Titania had knowingly and willingly laced her teammates drinks during a mission. That was the incontrovertible truth. She betrayed Natsu and Gray's trust and by extension every other member of the guild as well. Intentions mattered little. Her careless actions had led to irreversible consequences for two members of their family. His children were hurting and he had to protect them from further damage. He also needed to understand Lucy's involvement better. He had a very difficult decision ahead of him.

"I think it goes without saying that I am very disappointed in both of you. Resorting to cheap tricks is never the correct way to deal with problems. You have hurt Natsu and Gray very deeply and only they will know if they are capable of forgiving you. You have also broken the trust that we have all afforded you. I would like to know why you chose to do this, because I am having trouble understanding why you would go to these lenghts. However, I need time to think about what your punishment will be for this betrayal. For the time being you are both suspended until further notice. You may not take on jobs or represent Fairy Tail in any capacity until I have come to a final decision. I will be wanting to speak with you soon.", Makarov declared.

"To the rest of you, Erza and Lucy are still a part of Fairy Tail and I will not abide any retaliations. Is that clear?"

All of the mages looked at him and nodded.

"Erza and Lucy, I can see from your faces that you want to go after them, I recommend that you give them some time to adjust to their new situation. I will go consult with Porlyusica to see if anything can be done to counteract the effects of the potion. Erza, I will need the potion."

Erza nodded and went to get the vial. Some gasps were heard when she produced it. There was no longer any way to deny what had happened.

"Do not tell Natsu and Gray where I am going, I do not want to get their hopes up."

Once he had received the vial Makarov headed towards Porlyusica's cottage satisfied that Erza and Lucy would be safe in his absence. He would use the long walk to ponder his course of action.

As soon as Makarov left Gajeel made his way up to Erza.

"You have no idea what you did to the Salamander do you?", Gajeel growled.

Erza shook her head slowly.

"Gajeel-san, don't...", Wendy said quietly.

"Since when do you care about what happens to Natsu? You're not even friends.", Lucy said angrily.

"And yet, somehow, I was still a better friend than you."

Gajeel glared at her and walked out of the guild. He wasn't sure he'd be able to obey the Master if he didn't.

This truly sucked. The Salamander was by no means someone he considered a good friend but he admired the guy. He did not deserve the scrap heap that had just been handed to him. He was loyal to a fault and it had to hurt to be blindsided like that by someone he trusted. Now the Ice Block had to feed him yet another blow because the dimwit couldn't keep his temper under control.

He decided he would go in search of the Salamander to tell him the rest of the potion's effects. He had been impressed by the ice mage's actions. He had acted like a proper mate. He would do this one small kindness for him. After he had failed them both so miserably it was the least he could do. He started sniffing the air trying to isolate that scent in the night air. He just needed to make sure to follow the trace that did not have the Exceed's scent as well.

It wasn't long before he caught the scent he was looking for and he followed it to South Gate Park. He found the Salamander sitting under a huge tree and headed over.

"Salamander"

Natsu glanced up. He looked at Gajeel with surprise.

"What are you doing here?"

"I was looking for you. We need to talk.", Gajeel told him.

"Oh, did I miss something?", Natsu said sarcastically.

"Yeah, you did."

"What the hell more could there be? Someone whom I considered to be like a sister paid a stranger 50,000 jewel for a potion that she then tricked me into taking. It completely screwed up my friendship with my best friend and the use of my magic around him. Oh and for good measure she doubled the amount to make sure it worked extra well. Then she patted herself on the back at what a great idea she had.", Natsu spat out bitterly.

Gajeel winced. He decided he just had to say it.

"The effect is permanent."

"Which effect? My magic is back to normal.", Natsu asked confusedly.

"The part that tampers with your emotions, dumbass. The potion is now attached to your magic container. It will continue to make you feel strong emotions towards Fullbuster, for the rest of your life."

Natsu slumped. "So she was right then? None of it was real?"

"I can't really answer that for you, Salamander. Bunny Girl said that the potion only strengthened feelings that already existed between you. He's a good mate though. He told Bunny Girl off for you, but good." Gajeel grinned at the memory.

"Thanks for telling me. I think I want to be alone now."

Gajeel nodded in understanding and muttered as he left. "I'm around."

Gajeel took himself back to the guild. He wanted to see Levy. He found her sittng quietly in a corner and joined her. She looked up at him.

"I really wish I had been able to find something to help them.", Levy said wistfully.

"I know you do Shrimp."

"Juvia is very confused. Are Gray-sama and Natsu in love or not?", Juvia asked him

"Hell if I know.", Gajeel shrugged, he was done with the topic for now. He had done all he could.

Erza and Lucy had long since left the guild. Loke was still sitting at the same table. His eyes unreadable behind his glasses. It did not look like he had moved since Gray had left the guild. He suddenly stood up and headed towards the bar. He sat down next to Cana and ordered himself a drink.

"I don't suppose you could catch me up on what is going on with Natsu and Gray?", Loke asked Cana.

Cana shrugged, "The last few weeks they hadn't been fighting at all. I guess we know why now. They were training a lot together and I guess somewhere along the line they started dating. They were really happy. I actually liked them together."

"They were happy?", Loke asked curiously.

"Yeah, they seemed to be. They were always laughing and talking. They held hands and kissed a lot."

"Gray even told Juvia off. That was pretty awesome. Then today something about Gray agreeing to be Natsu's mate right before you got here. I didn't actually get all of that. Maybe it's a Dragon Slayer thing?"

"I'm having a hard time seeing it. If I hadn't seen Gray wearing Natsu's scarf and holding his hand, I don't think I would have believed you.", Loke said.

"I know it sounds crazy, but they totally worked. It's too bad that potion thing wrecked everything.", Cana said sadly.

"Dragon Slayer thing huh? Maybe I'll go find one and ask.", Loke grabbed his drink and went looking for Wendy or Gajeel. He found Wendy sitting at a table with Gajeel and Levy.

"Wendy, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"I wanted to ask you about something that Cana told me a little bit ago. She mentioned that Gray had agreed to be Natsu's mate. What does that mean exactly?", Loke asked her carefully.

"Dragon Slayers, like dragons, mate for life. Natsu-san had chosen Gray-san to be his mate and Gray-san had said yes. They had not done the ritual yet though so technically they were not officially mates but they were celebrating right before this happened.", Wendy explained.

"If they had already done this ritual, what would have happened?"

"Well, their souls would have been bound together. If Gray-san decided to leave then Natsu-san would never have been able to find another mate and he would have been alone for the rest of his life but still bound to Gray-san. For a Dragon Slayer that is a fate almost worse than death.", Wendy shuddered. She did not like to think about how close her friend came to having that happen.

Loke added that to the already long list of things he was upset with his master about.

"Do you think Natsu is going to be ok?"

"I don't know. I hope so? I can't imagine how hard this must be for him. This is something that we take very seriously", Wendy replied.

"Thank you.", Loke got up from the table and waved.

He still could not understand what Lucy's role was in all this but he did not much care at the moment. He was still very angry at his mage both for what she had done to his friends and how she had treated him. It made him sad to learn that Gray had been so happy and then had it taken away so quickly. It felt like the ice mage could never catch a break. He would make a point to try to talk to him without Lucy around. Loke closed his gate and returned to the Celestial World with more questions than answers.

Makarov finally returned from Porlyusica's cottage empty handed. His saddened expression let the guild members know that there was nothing to be done for their two friends. The guild hall remained quiet for the rest of the night.


	16. Numb

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tweaked this chapter a bit from the original version, nothing life changing but I think it works better now.

Disclaimer: All Fairy Tail Characters Belong to Hiro Mashima

Chapter 16: Numb

Happy and Gray were trying to find Natsu. They had been searching for about an hour with no luck. Gray remembered Mira's words to him the previous night.

"Mira mentioned that you were upset with me about something. Do you want to talk about it?", Gray asked Happy

"It's ok, you have other things to worry about right now.", Happy said evasively. Now that he knew the truth about what had happened he felt bad about his accusations.

"Honestly, I would like to think about something else for awhile.", Gray said.

Happy sighed. He supposed he should just tell him and apologize. "I thought you had learned about Dragon Slayer's mates and were tricking Natsu into liking you so that he would end up alone forever. I know it's not true now and I'm sorry for even thinking it. I should have known better. I''m really sorry."

"You really thought I was capable of something like that?", Gray was genuinely hurt, "I would never do something that cruel."

"I know, it's just that the two of you were always fighting and then this. I didn't know what to think", Happy said sadly.

"That's alright Happy, I forgive you. You were only watching out for Natsu"

"Gray, what are you going to do when we find him? He left before he heard everything."

"I have to tell him the truth. We are in this mess because people weren't honest. I won't make it worse by doing the same.", Gray said earnestly.

"Are you ok?", Happy asked him.

"No. Let's go to the park, maybe he's there."

"Aye, sir."

They made their way to South Gate Park and finally saw Natsu sitting under the same Rainbow Sakura Tree where he had confessed to Gray just a few hours ago. He looked up and gave Gray a broken smile.

"Hey, Snowflake."

"Hi.", Gray said, feeling a little bit lost. He and Happy sat at either side of the fire mage.

"I find myself wishing that we had gone somewhere else for that drink.", Natsu chuckled dryly.

Gray snorted. "No kidding."

"Are you ok?", Gray asked more seriously..

"Hell no, I'm pretty far from ok. You?"

Gray shrugged. "I feel like I just went a few rounds with a Mountain Vulcan."

Natsu nodded in agreement. "So Erza, huh. Didn't see that coming. Lucy either. I guess I understand their reactions a little better now."

They sat quietly in companionable silence for awhile. Gray finally built up the courage to tell the fire mage what he needed to know.

"Natsu, I have to tell you something.", Gray began nervously.

"No, you don't.", Natsu replied.

"I really do."

"No, you really don't. Gajeel found me earlier. He already told me.", Natsu looked at the grass.

"Gajeel told you?", Gray asked surprised.

"Yes, he thought it was beyond cruel that you would have to. Bastard's a better guy than I ever gave him credit for. I guess I'm not as good a judge of character as I thought.", Natsu laughed mirthlessly.

"Yeah, he and Wendy both went all dragon on me after you left.", Gray told him.

"I heard you went off on Lucy. Gajeel was pretty impressed with you. He said I picked a good mate.", Natsu's voice broke a little at the word.

Gray unwrapped Natsu's scarf from around his neck and placed it around Natsu's.

"I think you need this more than I do."

Natsu nodded. His fingers absently playing with his scarf like he always did when he was upset.

"I never even got to learn how to do the ritual before it was over.", Natsu said sadly.

"I don't think we should make any decisions tonight."

Natsu nodded. "I want so much to be angry right now but all I feel is numb. There are so many emotions fighting for my attention that I can't actually feel any of them." Happy snuggled up to him and he petted him gently.

"Do you want to fight?", Gray offered. Fighting used to always help them work through their problems.

"No. I just want to understand. Why did they do it? Why didn't Lucy tell us? How much of my feelings were real?"

"I don't actually think there is anything to understand. They made a crappy decision and now they will have to suffer the consequences, and there should be consequences.", Gray said angrily.

"As for the feelings, I don't know how much of them were real. The fact is we will never know. I feel like this is all my fault. You were all freaky magic and I was all repressed feelings and I forced you into something you did not want. You even said you weren't sure how we would be able to tell the difference but I didn't listen. I'm sorry, we're here now because of me."

"Damn straight.", Natsu said with a small smile earning him a punch from the ice mage.

"Bastard!"

"I don't really think anyone is at fault here. We did the best we could with what we had. For the record, before everything gets weird, I don't regret any of it. I had a blast doing stuff the last two weeks.", Natsu said.

Gray smiled at Natsu, "I did too. Don't think I don't see what you are trying to do here, though. You don't have to let me go Natsu. I said no decisions tonight and I meant it."

Natsu nodded listlessly. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For being my mate, if only briefly. It means a lot."

"Natsu.", Gray said warningly.

"Ice Prick"

"Flame Breath"

"Snow Fairy"

"Fire Fly"

"Ice Britches"

"Squinty Eyes"

"Maybe I'll take you up on that fight after all."

They got up and once again let their fists do their talking for them. It was almost like old times. They fought for awhile ending in their usual draw. Natsu had to admit he felt a bit better.

"I think we should both take solo missions. At the very least, I plan to. We obviously can't think about this clearly if we are near each other. I also don't want to talk to Lucy or Erza.", Natsu said calmly.

"I know, just promise me you won't do anything stupid."

"Have you met me?", Natsu smiled.

"Natsu, Don't give up on me.", Gray said quietly.

"I promise."

They said their goodbyes and headed home.


	17. The Girl By the River

Disclaimer: All Fairy Tail Characters Belong to Hiro Mashima

Chapter 17: The Girl By The River

Natsu stood by the doors of the guild hall. He was waiting for Mira to come open the building so that he could choose a mission from the request board. Mira showed up about thirty minutes later.

"Good morning, Natsu.", Mira looked at Natsu with concern, "What are you doing here so early?"

"Good morning, Mira. I just want to pick a job request from the board. I don't really want to take a train so I figured I would get an early start."

Mira nodded and opened the door. Natsu headed straight to the request board.

She let herself into the building and immediately went into the kitchen to prepare Natsu some breakfast. By the time Natsu had picked his job she had a plate heaping with food ready for him.

"Sit and eat something.", she commanded.

Natsu shrugged and did as he was told. He handed her the request so she could write it down in her notebook and began to eat his food. Mira noticed that Natsu was once again wearing his scarf and it made her sad for him. They had been so happy yesterday, it really wasn't fair.

"Natsu, I'm really sorry this was done to you. You didn't deserve it."

Natsu tensed at her words but gave no other indication that he had heard.

'Are you doing this job to avoid Gray?", she asked carefully.

"No. He knows I'm leaving. We both need time to think things through."

"Natsu, don't ...", Mira sighed, not knowing what to say, "I liked the two of you together."

"I did too. I'll probably be gone for about a week."

Mira nodded and jotted it down, "Be safe."

Natsu thanked her for his breakfast and left. Mira continued with her preparations for the day.

Gray woke up with a start. Crap! He was going to be late for training. Natsu was going to be pissed. He got up quickly to get himself ready and that's when he remembered. There would be no training that morning. There would also not be any more team jobs. Team Natsu, for all effects and purposes, was no more.

When Erza had first suggested that they all work together he had been less than thrilled. After many jobs, though, he had come to really enjoy the closeness that they had carved for themselves. He had trusted all of them to have his back, had even trusted them with his past, and in the end it seemed that only Natsu had been worthy of that trust.

At the thought of Natsu, his heart felt heavy in his chest. He had a lot of thinking to do although he was fairly certain Natsu had already made up his mind. He knew the pink haired idiot well enough to know he had been saying goodbye last night, that the solo mission was more for him than for Natsu himself.

He quickly got ready for the day and headed for the guild hoping that he might catch Natsu before he left.

When he arrived it was mostly empty. He sat down at the counter and ordered some breakfast glancing at the door whenever it opened.

Mira saw him looking and said quietly, "He already left Gray. He was here first thing in the morning."

She handed him his breakfast. He looked at it disinterestedly but began to eat.

"Oh.", he said in a small voice, "Did he look ok?"

"As well as could be expected, I suppose."

"Did he say how long he would be gone?"

"About a week."

"Ok.", he smiled at her, "Thanks."

"Gray," Mira said sadly, "I'm really sorry this was done to you."

"Yeah, I am too. Thanks."

As he ate his breakfast he realized that the guild was actually the last place he wanted to be. He loved his family but he didn't want to spend the day listening to their apologies or dealing with their concern. He wasn't ready to go off on a solo mission either. He waved goodbye to Mira and headed outside. Perhaps he would do some training after all.

He practiced his magic but he was having trouble controlling his molding. His creations lacked the detail and precision that they usually had. He gave up and decided to go for a run instead. He ran the basic route that he and Natsu had been doing in the mornings. It helped him feel like the fire mage was near. He already missed him. When he felt like he could not run another step he started walking. Before he realized where he was going his feet had taken him to the river bank. The place where it had all started for them. He was surprised to see a familiar head of red hair already sitting there.

He supposed he should not have been surprised. The riverbank had started other things for him as well. His friendship with Erza had also started here, long before Natsu had even joined the guild. He had found her there, crying by herself. It was the first time he had ever seen her show any weakness and it had made him want to help ease her pain and be her friend. He noticed she was crying again. He wanted nothing more than to leave her there to her well deserved sadness but that small boy still lived inside him and would not let him do so.

He grudgingly walked towards the bank of the river and sat down next to her. She turned and looked at him with wide eyes. She wiped her tears away and looked back towards the river.

"Why are you here?", she asked, "I can't imagine you came looking for me."

"I didn't. This is where it started.", he said simply.

Erza nodded, not quite understanding but grateful to be in his presence.

"I find it very relaxing here.", she told him.

They sat quietly for awhile, avoiding the things that had to be said.

"Do you want to tell me about it?", Erza asked her foster brother gently.

Tell her about it? Had she had lost her mind? She was the last person he wanted to talk to at the moment. Then again maybe she needed to hear what she had done to him, to them. He wanted her to hurt like he did. It seemed only fair.

"When we got off the train from the Malba mission, I tried to talk to Natsu about our agreement but at first he wouldn't listen to me. So we ended up racing. That time we only didn't feel the urge to fight. I guess the potion hadn't taken a hold quite yet.", he stopped and glared at her.

Erza winced at the force of his glare but nodded at him to continue.

"We realized we weren't able to fight at all that night, at the guild, during the big brawl. We tried tried to hit each other but nothing happened. We could not make our fists move. I tried to talk to him the next day while he was training but that's when he made me run the world's fastest mile. That moron really does not like to talk through issues.", he smiled at the memory

Erza allowed herself a small smile remembering her other foster brother's preferred way of dealing with issues.

"Poor Natsu, that must have been really hard on him.", Erza said.

"Yes. It was.", he growled at her. How dare she say his name so casually after what she had done?

"Anyway, that morning is when we figured out that our magic was affected as well. You wanted to go on a mission the following day so we tested different things and figured the area of effect for our magic to work. Staying on the team was something that was important to both of us, but we wanted to make sure it was safe to do so. We went on that bandit mission and we tried planning everything so that we would not get in each other's way but it did not work out. Natsu lost track of me when he was running to help you and I was attacked. Loke saw what was happening and tackled me to the ground. Natsu blamed himself for leaving me defenseless."

He took a deep breath.

"The next morning we trained and Natsu led us here. He told me he was quitting the team. He was worried that I would get hurt because of his recklessness. Kind of ironic isn't it.", he looked at Erza pointedly.

"Gray, I'm so-", Erza started.

"Don't, I'm not done yet."

"He told me he would not leave me and we ended up kissing. We weren't in control then. Neither one of us meant for it to happen and it very much felt like something made us do it. He wanted us to tell someone then but I talked him out of it. He kept telling me that it wasn't normal but I insisted that we must be experiencing repressed feelings. I was convinced that part was real, even though I knew that we were under the influence of something. I wanted it to be real and I convinced him to let me kiss him again even though he had already told me about Dragon Slayers and mates. I made him promise that if he felt something that he would put his stubbornness aside and we would explore it. We spent all our spare time together after that, training or..."

"He was saying something about mates yesterday, what is the relevance?" Erza asked, remembering Gajeel's words, she wondered if this was what he had been referring to.

"Dragon Slayers are like dragons. They mate for life, and they only get the one mate. Their souls are joined and they are bonded. I don't know much more than that. If their mate leaves then they will remain alone."

"And you are Natsu's mate? You are bonded?", Erza asked carefully. She really hoped she had not condemned Natsu to a life of loneliness. He did not deserve that.

"Yes and no. He asked me to be his mate yesterday. We were celebrating our commitment when you and Lucy came along and destroyed everything."

Erza could not really argue the point so she chose to ignore it for now. At least Natsu was still ok.

"So the reason you were so moody during our mission was just you missing your, uhm, boyfriend?, Erza asked, she still felt a little strange about the two of them being together.

"Not exactly, Gajeel and Wendy had figured out something was up because of our scents and they wanted me to back off of Natsu because we had only gotten together after they noticed the change. I think they were worried about us performing the mating ritual before we knew what was going on. I was moody because I was worried that they were right and then I was worried that Natsu wouldn't feel the same anymore when he returned."

"You agreed to be his mate, you must really love him.", Erza said softly, "Will you be able to go back to the way things were before if that is what he wants?"

Gray did not answer her. He just looked at her, eyes brimming with tears.

She wrapped her arms around him and held him. He tensed and tried to push her away but she would not let go. He gave himself over to silent tears. It hurt so much. It hurt to not know the truth. He heard her say quiet apologies as she tried to comfort him but she did not have the right to offer him comfort. He began to feel the anger again. This time he was able to pull himself away from her embrace.

"Why, Erza? Why did you do this to us? ", Gray screamed at Erza.

"We trusted you."

"The truth is I really don't know why I did it. I was angry at both of you and I was tired of your constant fighting. I thought that if you could get past your senseless bickering you would really see each other. All the things that we all see in you. Then you could be friends. It was selfish and stupid and reckless and I wish above all that I could take it back.", Erza said sadly.

"I hate myself for what I did. I have spent all my time thinking about how this has affected both of you. The pain I put you through in unforgivable. I keep remembering you telling me how you did not want the nature of your relationship to change and it breaks my heart to know that I did exactly that."

"I'm sorry Gray, and I know I have no right to ask for your forgiveness so I won't. I betrayed you and Natsu and nothing I say or do will ever change that. I can only hope that someday you might forgive me. I promise to work hard to earn it."

Gray stared at her. He wanted so much to hate her but he couldn't. He could still see the young girl in her, the one that would come to the river to cry by herself and he still loved that girl.

"We'll see. I am going back to the guild.", Gray said getting up. He offered her his hand in an unspoken question. It was only a first step but he supposed they had to start somewhere. Erza took his hand and together they made their way to the guild in slightly less uncomfortable silence.


	18. Celestial Intervention

Disclaimer: All Fairy Tail Characters Belong To Hiro Mashima

Chapter 18: Celestial Intervention

Natsu left the guild and started walking on the road that would lead him out of town with Happy flying next to him. The job he had picked was not particularly difficult but it paid well and was a good distance away from Magnolia. He noticed a familiar scent wafting towards him. He was puzzled as to why that particular member of Fairy Tail would be walking around Magnolia.

Loke approached the Dragon Slayer.

"Natsu. I need to talk to you."

"Loke", Natsu looked at him warily, "What do you want?"

"Cana told me last night that you and Gray were happy together. Is that true?"

"Yeah we were, but it doesn't matter Loke. It isn't real.", Natsu said matter-of-factly.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going on a job.", he said in the same tone as before.

"Aren't you going to try to fight this?", Loke asked in confusion.

"There's nothing to fight. The effects are permanent. We'll just have to learn to adjust."

"What is wrong with you?", Loke asked in frustration, "I've never seen you back down from a challenge before."

"What do you want me to do, Loke? How do you fight a potion? This is hard for me. Yesterday, we were going to spend the rest of our lives together. Now, there's nothing. There isn't even a bad guy for me to fight. There's no one but Erza and Lucy.", Natsu said indignantly.

"Did you know?"

"Of course I didn't know. I would never do that to you guys."

"As to how to fight a potion, I don't know man, start by talking to whoever sold Erza the potion.", Loke suggested.

"I don't know anything about them. I just know it was in a magic shop in Malba."

"Lucky for you we both know someone who does, and I'm pretty sure she owes both of us a favor.", Loke said excitedly.

"No.", Natsu said firmly.

"What do you mean no?", Loke asked incredulously.

"I'm not asking Lucy for help."

"She can help you, Natsu. Let her help you, then go back to being angry. Do it for Gray."

Natsu glared at him for using the Gray card on him but felt himself giving in.

"Fine, she can come. I have to go do this job. I will meet you at the inn where we stayed in Malba in two days time. She'll know where it is."

"Fine. I'll see you in two days."

Loke disappeared and Natsu started walking again.

"Are you ever going to forgive Lucy, Natsu?", Happy asked quietly.

Natsu did not answer.

"Do you want to talk about it?", Happy prodded. He hated to see Natsu so angry at Lucy but he knew that Natsu had good reason to feel the way he did.

"No."

"Are you going to break up with Gray?"

He was met with silence. Happy sighed. This was going to be a long day.

Lucy was sitting in her apartment. Since she could not do jobs she had decided to work on her novel. It wasn't going very well. She couldn't get her mind off of Gray's words from the previous night.

"How many times did you sit with us, talk to us, pretend to be our friend? You knew, this whole time, and you didn't say anything. Do you have any idea what it was like for us? Not knowing what was wrong with us. Having the entire basis of our relationship taken away from us. Do you know how many hours we trained trying to figure out the effects so that we could stay on the team? We had to go through all of that because our bickering was inconvenient for you?"

She was ashamed to realize that he was right. She hadn't given any thought to how the potion would affect them. She should have told them. She knew that. Now they were both mad at her and she couldn't see a way back. She couldn't forget the hurt looks on their faces when they heard what she and Erza had done, but she couldn't undo it.

Then there was Loke. She didn't know how to fix things with him either. He had made it clear that he was upset with her and he had reason to be. She had acted no better than Karen, his previous master, something that she thought she would never do. She had been trying to protect Erza but she had also not wanted him to know she was involved.

Loke appeared before her.

"Master."

"You don't have to call me that.", Lucy said tiredly, "Loke, I'm really sorry . I was wrong to treat you the way I did. Please forgive me. I will do anything to make things right between us."

"We can talk about that later. Right now we need your help.", Loke said.

"What do you need my help with?", Lucy asked.

"I talked Natsu into going to see the mage who sold Erza the potion. We need to meet him in Malba in two days time"

"Natsu wanted me to come?", Lucy asked hopefully.

"Not exactly, but he knows you're coming.", Loke said truthfully.

He didn't want to see her. She started to cry. Natsu was her first Fairy Tail friend. He was the one who brought her to the guild. He was the one who snuck into her apartment, ate all her food and took her on jobs. He had saved her life more times than she could remember. She knew that she had hurt him but she did not realize how badly until that moment.

"Look, I've known Natsu for a long time. He's not one to hold grudges. He'll eventually calm down but you have to give him time. You can't force him when he's like this."

"But why is he so angry with me?"

"Do you really have to ask?", Loke asked incredulously.

"No, I know he has every right to be angry with me but it seems like they are both angrier than I would have expected."

"Lucy, they got engaged yesterday. They were celebrating right before you and Erza told them your news. I have to imagine that would be a bit upsetting."

"Engaged? I didn't know that. Is that why Gray was wearing Natsu's scarf?"

Loke nodded.

She didn't think it was possible to feel any worse, but she was wrong.

Lucy arrived at the inn and requested two rooms. She summoned Loke and they went to the bar to wait for Natsu. He arrived at the inn a few minutes later. They went to the dining room to have dinner and Natsu excused himself to leave his travel bag in the room and clean up.

"How is he, Happy?" , Lucy asked.

"Not good. He barely talks.", Happy answered sadly, "He's trying to act like he's fine with everything but he's not."

"I really hope this guy can help us.", Loke said.

Natsu returned and they ordered their dinner. Happy was right, Natsu did not talk much during dinner. He would not acknowledge Lucy and he only replied when spoken to. They were all happy to go to bed early.

The following morning Lucy, Loke, Natsu and Happy entered the magic shop and looked around. She led them to the Request Center.

"Ah Miss Lucy, you're back!.", said the man behind the counter, "How can I help you?"

"We're looking for Fuyu again, my friend would like to ask him some questions.", Lucy said. It did not escape her notice that Natsu flinched when she referred to him as her friend.

"Well he is out on a job again. Are you staying at the same inn as last time?"

Lucy nodded.

"I will tell him to look for you there."

"Thank you.", Lucy said.

They waited at the inn for the mage to show up. Lucy tried to get Natsu to talk to her but he was unresponsive. She spent most of the time talking to Happy and Loke.

On the second day, she tried to apologize more directly.

"Natsu, I'm really sorry for not telling you about the potion", Lucy said.

Natsu just looked at her.

"Can you please just talk to me?", Lucy pleaded.

"I have nothing to say to you."

Finally on the third day, the mage walked into the inn. Lucy almost cried in relief.

"Why have you returned? I've already told you all I know.", Fuyu asked.

"Are you the guy who sold Erza that potion?", Natsu asked.

"Regretfully so. I don't have any more if that's why you are here."

Natsu laughed mirthlessly.

"Definitely not. I am one of the people she gave it to."

"You're the one they call Salamander. Aren't you a Fire Mage of some sort?", Fuyu asked.

"Yes. I'm a Fire Dragon Slayer."

"We're sorry to bother you again. We were just hoping that maybe you might have remembered some way to reverse or counteract the effects?", Lucy asked sadly.

"Well, I didn't think so but once again Titania did not give me enough information.", Fuyu looked pensive.

"She told me that her two friends were powerful mages but she failed to mention that one of them was a fire mage."

"Why would that make a difference?", Happy asked.

Fuyu waved him off. He was deep in thought. After a few minutes he began to speak.

"Fire magic users can burn through poisons and potions because their regular body temperatures are much higher than the average human. I imagine that's even more true for a Fire Dragon Slayer. It's possible that Salamander would have required a higher dosage to counteract this ability and achieve the same effect. If that were true then his double dose would work itself out eventually and his emotional effect would not be permanent as the potion would not have been able to attach to his magic container."

"How would we be able to tell?", Loke asked excitedly, "What about the other mage?"

"I think the other mage would still be affected but if Salamander manages to burn through all of the potion in his body then the other mage's potion might become dormant.", Fuyu said, "This is all just conjecture of course, but it is possible."

"Does the potion have a smell? Some other Dragon Slayers noticed I smelled different sometime after I was given the potion.", Natsu asked cautiously.

"I suppose everything has a smell. If they can tell the difference then I suppose if the potion was being burned out of your system then the smell should become less potent until eventually it would disappear altogether.", Fuyu shrugged, "I wish you luck, I hope things work out."

"Thank you for your help.", Natsu said. He got up and returned to his room. It was a long shot but it was better than nothing. They would be returning home on the train the following day. He almost decided to walk home just to avoid spending more time with Lucy but it would add an extra day to his travel time and he needed to see Wendy and Gajeel as soon as possible.

"Natsu, you should at least talk to Lucy.", Happy said.

"I really don't have anything to say to her, Happy.", Natsu said.

"Tell her how angry you are, tell her you hate her, tell her anything.", Happy said, "She feels badly you know."

"Apparently not badly enough to tell us what was happening.", Natsu retorted.

"Not to sound like I'm defending what she did but she didn't really know what was happening. You and Gray chose not to tell anyone of the effects, and you went off by yourselves most of the time.", Happy reminded him.

Natsu did not respond. Happy sighed. He would keep trying.

The train ride was long and for once in his life Natsu was happy to have his motion sickness to focus on. He knew that he would have to talk to Lucy eventually but he was nowhere near ready for that yet.

Since he had left town he had done nothing but think about the events of the past few weeks and he had come to a few conclusions.

He was very angry at Erza for her part in all this but at the same time he could see her getting carried away with her need to discipline them. She had spent years constantly separating them from their skirmishes before they got out of control and it had to be exhausting to never see and end in sight. He supposed that in some insane way her disastrous attempt to try to force him and Gray to be friends was an extreme form of her love for the two of them. He also knew that had she known what the consequences would be she would never have done it and would have personally ended anyone who had tried to hurt them in such a way. He felt that Erza's betrayal was not just about frustration it was also about loving them too much. Knowing that, he felt that he could maybe let her try to regain his trust someday. Perhaps he would challenge her to a fight when they returned, that felt like a good first step.

Lucy was a different story. Unlike Erza, he'd not known her for very long but he was the one who had brought her into Fairy Tail. Had introduced her to his friends. He'd taken her on her first mission. He felt responsible for her in a way. He had taken her under his wing and made a team with her and he had trusted her. He thought that they were friends and they had been through a lot together in a short time. He had saved her so many times during their friendship and it hurt that she had not tried to save him. He had seen her kindness to others over and over during their missions. Yet she had sat with them, fought with them, joked with them all while knowing what was inside them and she did not say a word. Where was her kindness then? Happy might have had a point about her not knowing what was going on with them but that was still nowhere near enough to getting him to a place where he could talk to her. He felt that Lucy's betrayal stemmed from caring about herself more than about what could happen to them and that was a world view he could not understand. He would need more time.

They finally reached Magnolia and left the train. Lucy started to walk away towards her apartment. Natsu grabbed her arm and stopped her.

"Thank you for going to Malba and talking to Fuyu.", he said. He let go of her before she could reply and walked away. He had some Dragon Slayers to find.

He hoped they could free themselves from the prison of created feelings that the potion would forever hold them in. If Fuyu's conjecture was correct, and he cursed himself for having forgotten that aspect of his magic, the likely result would be that his and Gray's feelings would return to what they were before this nightmare started. He was prepared for that but he was startled to realize that a part of him was still holding on to the hope that their feelings had been real all along. He tried to shake that notion from his mind and focus instead on how they could repair their friendship after all they had seen and felt and done with the other.


	19. Free to Choose

Disclaimer: All Fairy Tail Characters Belong to Hiro Mashima

Chapter 19: Free To Choose

"Happy, please go find Wendy and Gajeel and ask them to come to the house."

"Aye, sir!"

Natsu headed home. He wanted to go to the guild himself but he was afraid that Gray might be there. He didn't want to have any conversations until he knew their fate, one way or the other.

He opened the door to his house and was greeted by an amazing stench. Crap! He must have left food out again. He wasn't a big fan of cleaning up but at least it gave him something to do while he waited for Happy to return. He set about collecting trash off the floor and cleaning dishes. He was so engrossed in what he was doing that he was not aware of anyone entering his house until he heard Gray's voice behind him.

"So, you're avoiding me now?"

Natsu nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Gods Gray, are you trying to kill me?"

"Answer me.", Gray said roughly.

Natsu sighed.

"Why would I be avoiding you? I just got home.", he said evasively.

"You sent Happy to the guild to look for Wendy and Gajeel. Why didn't you just come yourself?", Gray said accusingly.

Natsu cursed Happy's inability to do anything quietly.

"Were they there?", Natsu asked.

"No, they weren't."

Natsu tried to hide his disappointment, but Gray noticed.

"What do you want with them?", he asked curiously.

"Can you please wait until tomorrow for an answer?", Natsu implored.

Gray thought about this for a minute and shook his head. He had already been waiting for a week to see him, and now he very much wanted to know what Natsu was trying to keep from him.

Natsu wanted to shield him from the disappointment that was likely to come but he felt badly about it. They were in this mess together and he did not want to add a lie to to the growing list of things they would have to work through. He sighed and began to tell Gray about his week.

"As I was leaving town to go on my job, Loke came to see me. He talked me into going to see the man who had sold Erza the potion but I didn't know anything about him. He talked to Lucy and had her meet me in Malba after I finished my job. We went to the shop but the mage was out on a job and we had to wait for three days for him to return."

"You talked to Lucy?", Gray asked.

"Not exactly. I mostly gave her the silent treatment."

Gray nodded in understanding thinking about how hard it had been to talk to Erza. He motioned for Natsu to continue.

"Anyway, he finally came to the inn. We talked for awhile and when he found out I was a Fire Dragon Slayer he had an interesting theory. It's only a theory though. I didn't want to get your hopes up. That's why I wanted to see Wendy and Gajeel first.", he said sadly.

"Just tell me, Flame Brain. I can take it."

"The body temperatures of fire mages are higher than a normal human so they are able to burn through poisons or potions. Fire Dragon Slayers burn even hotter. He thought that it might be possible that I would have needed more of the potion initially to have the same result as a normal human. So two drops might have been my regular dosage. If that were true, then the potion would not have been able to attach itself to my magic container and the emotion tampering effects would not be permanent on me. If there was nothing for you to respond to in me then your potion would lay dormant and we would be free from its effects."

"That's a lot of ifs.", Gray said

Natsu nodded. Gray sat down on Natsu's couch and motioned for him to join him.

'We'll wait for them together."

Happy finally returned with Wendy and Gajeel. When they had not been at the guild he had gone to Fairy Hills to get Wendy but neither of them had known where Gajeel lived. They had walked around Magnolia trying to isolate his scent but it had taken awhile to actually find him, then a bit longer to convince him to come back with them all the way to Natsu's house.

"Hello Natsu-san, Gray-san", Wendy said happily.

"Oi, Salamander. Why am I here?", Gajeel asked irritably.

"I want you guys to smell me."

"Seriously? What the hell? I came all the way here for that?", Gajeel grumbled.

Wendy began to sniff the air around them. She had a curious look on her face.

"Gray-san can you go outside for a moment please?"

Gray nodded and stepped outside.

Wendy focused on Natsu. She looked at Gajeel pointedly and he did the same. After a few seconds they both stared at each other. Natsu was trying very hard not to scream at them.

"Well?", he said as calmly as he could manage.

"The scent is still there, but yours is definitely back.", Wendy said and she looked to Gajeel for confirmation. Gajeel gave a slight nod.

Natsu was so happy he kissed Wendy and swung her around in the air, much to her embarassment and delight. He went to hug Gajeel but the Iron Dragon Slayer waved him off.

"Fight later?", Natsu grinned. Gajeel gave him a nod, that was more his style.

Gray came inside when he heard the happy noises. He looked at Natsu questioningly, daring to hope.

"We're going to be just fine, Ice Bastard!", Natsu grabbed Gray in a huge bear hug. Gray smiled warmly.

"We'll have to monitor you until we're sure it's completely gone from your system.", Wendy said.

Natsu nodded in agreement. He was glad that, at least physically, they would be able to put this behind them.

"Once all the potion burns out of my system, we'll both be free.", he told Gray, "When that happens we can start to deal with everything else."

Makarov had spoken at length with both Erza and Lucy but had not made any final decisions yet. They were still suspended, although Makarov had allowed Lucy to work in the guild so that she could earn her rent money. At the moment she was helping Mira perform the day to day tasks involved in running the guild. Unfortunately for Natsu and Gray, this meant that she was always in the guild whenever they were present. She would look at them every time they came in the doors with the same hopeful look, almost like she was wondering if today was going to be the day that they would start talking to her again. Erza had been doing a lot of training and she mostly kept to herself. Everyone seemed to be holding their breath and waiting for Natsu and Gray to make some sort of move before they embraced Lucy and Erza again.

Gray had told Natsu that he had talked with Erza while he was gone. Natsu had meant to challenge Erza but had not gotten around to it yet. They had not talked at all since Natsu had walked out on her confession all those days ago. He still didn't know what to do about Lucy and it sounded like Gray had not spoken to her since the night of the confession.

Today Makarov had called both Natsu and Gray into his office.

"I wanted to ask you how your recovery is going."

"Wendy checks me every day. There seems to be some potion left but it is getting fainter every day.", Natsu said.

"Have you made any decisions about where your relationship is headed?", Makarov asked gently. He imagined this must be very difficult for them.

"We agreed not to make any decisions until a month after Wendy declares Natsu completely potion free.", Gray told him.

"That's actually amazingly mature coming from the two of you. On that note, I wanted to talk to you about Erza and Lucy."

Both Natsu and Gray immediately stiffened at the words.

"As you know I have not made a decision yet about what to do about them and it occurrs to me that you should have a say in what happens. This was done to the two of you and I know that you have not forgiven either of them, as is your right. I need to know, is it your wish that they be excommunicated from Fairy Tail?"

Natsu and Gray looked at each other in horror. They had not given much thought to what the official punishment should be as they trusted Makarov to make the decision fairly. Fairy Tail without Erza or Lucy?

"I can't speak for Natsu but I don't think that's necessary. I wouldn't want to be on a team with them at the moment but I would not feel right about being the reason they were excommunicated. They made a really big mistake but I don't think that they would do it again. I feel that with time I might be able to forgive them. It would be unfair if there wasn't some sort of consequence though. I trust your judgment", Gray responded seriously.

"I don't think they should be excommunicated.", Natsu said, "Are we done?"

Makarov looked at Natsu in surprise. He had expected Natsu to say more than that. He nodded at both of them and allowed them to leave his office. He was glad to hear that neither of them wanted to excommunicate them.

"I feel like we should start getting back to normal. Put this whole mess behind us, you know. How about we start training again? We can add weapons or sparring now, which should be fun.", Gray asked nervously.

Natsu looked at him thoughtfully for a moment and then nodded.

"I think I would like that. We can start tomorrow. I'll see you later, there's something I have to do."

Natsu went outside in search of Erza. He found her practicing with a dummy. He watched her for awhile before she noticed him.

"Natsu? Is there something you want?", Erza asked surprisedly.

"Fight me. Loser buys cake.", Natsu said seriously.

Erza was about to protest the bizarre request but then she remembered that this was how Natsu worked through his issues. He was offering her an olive branch. It also finally made her realize why he was having so much trouble with Lucy. He could never fight her like this and he had no idea how to work through his emotions. She hoped he could figure something out for both their sakes. She would hate to be the reason that Natsu and Lucy stopped being friends.

"I won't go easy on you just because you are upset with me.", she told him as she always did. She requipped into her Flame Empress armor and waited for him to attack.

"You better not. I'm all fired up right now!", Natsu warned.

"FIRE DRAGON BRILLIANT FLAME"

Erza dodged his attack easily and retaliated with a quick slash of her Flame Sword. Natsu put all of his anger and frustration into his attacks. They continued fighting for a long time. Neither willing to lose to the other. Eventually, exhausted they called the fight a draw. Several guild members had ventured outside and where watching the fight with interest. There were lots of cheers for Natsu and even some for Erza.

"This was fun, we should do it again sometime, ok?", Natsu grinned at Erza.

"You have improved greatly since the last time we fought, I look forward to doing it again.". Erza complimented him, "Cake?"

"Cake."

They walked inside, having achieved a first step towards an uneasy truce.

Gray had watched from a distance smiling at the flame brain's inability to discuss anything without his fists. It made him wonder how much he was going to hurt when the time came for them to figure out their issues. He was glad that Natsu had finally challenged Erza. He hoped that someday they could all truly put this mess behind them and go back to being friends. He supposed since Natsu had made some progress he should start figuring out how he wanted to handle Lucy.

In the end they decided to handle Lucy together as neither one of them felt comfortable doing it by themselves. They sneaked into her apartment through her open window and waited inside for her to come home from the guild. She startled when she found them inside but did not yell at them as she normally would. She sat down and watched them nervously.

"We're ready to listen.", Gray said evenly. Natsu nodded.

"You were right Gray, I never thought how it would affect the two of you.", Lucy said as she started to sob, "I never once gave a thought to how it would affect your friendship. I did try to stop Erza but I should have tried harder."

"You would never have been able to stop Erza from doing something once she had made up her mind, but you should have told us before she even had a chance to put her plan in place. You're both lucky I'm a Fire Dragon Slayer.", Natsu said unhappily.

"You're right, I should have told you both. I won't try to excuse what I did. I should have been protecting you instead of Erza.", Lucy said sadly, "I'm really sorry and I hope some day you will find it in you to let me back in your lives."

"I'm also really sorry that we ruined your engagement celebration.", Lucy finished, "Congratulations by the way. The way you behaved through this whole mess, you work really well together."

"Uh thanks.", Gray replied uncomfortably, "We accept your apology but it's going to take us a while to let you in to our lives. Teammates need to be able to trust each other with their lives in order to work well together. Both Natsu and I are quitting the team. We've already told Erza. We can try to start working our way back outside of missions."

Lucy nodded solemly. They got up and said goodbye and left the apartment using the front door.

"Thanks for coming with me. I don't do well with words.", Natsu said quietly.

"That's ok, it helped me out too."

"Are you sure we're doing the right thing?", Natsu asked miserably.

"Yes, there is no way we could have stayed on the team. If you miss it that much you and I can team up sometime."

Natsu nodded. "Alright, it's done for now. Wanna go get a drink? I think Cana was looking for some competition."

"You're never going to beat her, Fire Breath.", Gray taunted.

"Hey my Fire Dragon Slayer Magic will burn right through the alcohol, she won't know what hit her!", Natsu grinned.

"Sure it will.", Gray dragged his friend back to the guild, "Just don't expect me to drag your drunken ass home."

They returned to the guild, Natsu excited about yet another competition. Gray egged him on and laughed as Cana promptly drank him under the table. He did of course end up dragging his drunken ass home.

Wendy finally declared Natsu potion free and the clock started ticking on their one month deadline. They had agreed to meet at South Gate Park under the Rainbow Sakura Tree. Gray arrived before Natsu and sat engrossed in his memories.

[Flashback]

"When I woke up this morning next to you I knew that wasn't the case. If anything, my feelings were even stronger because I felt whole again. We could once again truly be us, together. So this is me, Natsu Dragneel, making a conscious decision to make you, Gray Fullbuster, my lifelong mate. If you'll have me of course.", Natsu finished nervously. He looked at Gray anxiously and waited for an answer.

Gray just looked at him with his mouth gaped open. Not good with words? Holy crap! He wanted to be rational about this, he knew how important this was to Natsu. If he agreed to this there would be no turning back. He remembered Wendy's words and he wanted to do the right thing. He started to speak.

"Natsu, before I give you my answer I need you to know something. Wendy came to me the day you left on your solo mission. She said that there is something wrong with our scents and that it's getting worse. She's worried that we got together after it started affecting us and that if we become mates you might end up alone. I would never want that to happen to you.", Gray said sadly.

"Gray, do you want to spend the rest of your life with me?"

"Yes, I really do. There's no one I would rather spend it with."

"Then that's all that matters to me."

Natsu looked at him happily. He unwrapped his scarf from around his neck and wrapped it gently around Gray's neck.

"It is a dragon's fondest dream to find the soul that he is meant to be with. I am so lucky I found it in you, my best friend. Our life together will be one great adventure."

"I want you to have my scarf. It is my one prized posession, it is the last thing I have of Igneel's and it has always meant home to me. You are my home now, Gray. I love you. I will do everything I can to make you happy."

"I will take good care of it just Iike I will take good care of you. I love you, Natsu", Gray said

[End Flashback]

Natsu arrived a few minutes later. He was very nervous. When he saw Gray he almost turned around and left but he forced himself to meet his friend. He sat next to him underneath the tree.

In the last month they had spent a lot of time together. They had trained together several times a week and occasionally gone on missions together. They had hung out at the guild with their friends and they'd had their usual number of brawls.

They had not kissed or held hands or discussed their status as would be mates. That had been the unspoken agreement. They would work on their friendship first and then see if there was anything left over of those feelings that had taken over their lives for two weeks.

"I think we should break up.", Natsu blurted out.

"Oh.", Gray said sadly, "I guess I'd be lying if I said that was what I wanted to hear."

"We went about this all wrong.", Natsu tried to explain.

"Sure. If that's how you feel."

"We have the rest of our lives to do this.", Natsu tried again.

"It's ok, Natsu i understand. You don't have to keep saying anything more.", Gray was determined to get through this.

"Idiot, I'm saying I want to start over.", Natsu looked at him confusedly. Why was he so upset?

"Start what over? What the hell are you talking about?"

"I'm trying to ask you out.", Natsu said like it was the most obvious things in the world.

Gray suddenly punched him in the jaw, hard.

"Oww, what the hell was that for, Ice Princess?", Natsu glared at him

"You do not ask people out by breaking up with them, Flame Brain."

"I just want us to have a blank slate, I want to know that this time around it's all us.", Natsu explained.

"Then you lead with that.", Gray growled.

"You're going to be high maintenance aren't you?", Natsu grinned at him.

He took off running with Gray chasing after him yelling, "I'll show you high maintenanance, Squinty Eyes."

Eventually Gray caught up to him and tackled him to the ground. Pretty soon they were both rolling on the ground laughing happily with Gray having somehow lost his shirt. Natsu did not know if they would end up as mates this time around but he was determined they would have fun trying. Life with Gray would always be one great adventure no matter what roles they chose to play in each other's life.

The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N Thank you so much for sticking with the story. I had a lot of fun writing it! If you have any questions or comments feel free to leave them in the review section and I will try to get to them.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N This is my first fanfic. I have not written anything in over 20 years but I have received so much enjoyment from reading your stories that I would like to give something back to the community. I hope you enjoy the story! This story was originally posted in Fanfiction.net.


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